Chapter 111

As Kahlan was aiming at Willie, Rossi leaned in close to Christian. "She doesn't miss."

Sure enough, the bolt caught Willie just above his shoulder blade, and even though she'd made sure it didn't go in too far, it still dropped him first to his knees and then to the ground.

Kahlan then rushed up to him and with the way his face was scrunched up, she knew it had hurt. Before she could apologize, Cam handed her the syringe full of the tainted blood.

Willie eyed it and then nodded. She bit her lip and pulled back the collar of his shirt to expose his neck. "I am so sorry," she assured him and then stuck the needle in and pushed the plunger down.

He screamed as he pawed at it, and Rossi pulled her back so Willie didn't accidently hurt her as he flailed about.

His screams deepened as the black spiderweb like tendrils spread out from the injection point, and they all cringed; but Rossi pulled Kahlan into a hug when he saw her tearing up. "He wanted to do this, and he will be alright," he whispered into her ear. He wasn't sure if her tears were for Willie or Hotch, but he felt bad for her either way.

After a few moments, his screams died down, and after a couple more, he was out.

Sebastian took a deep breath. "Damn. That was harder to witness than I thought it would be."

Christian nodded. "That blood is very powerful. He'll probably be out for a while, but I suggest you two get to it."

Chuck nodded and after glancing at Kahlan and getting her approval, he put the shackles on Willie, picked him up, and put him in the back seat of the SUV.

Before Kahlan could open the passenger door, Cam stopped her with a hand on her arm and then turned to Sebastian. "Is there any way for them to know if that guy is truly human?"

Sebastian's brows rose as he thought about it and then smirked. "For one human to tell another? None that I know of, sorry."

Kahlan could see the worry in her friend's eyes, so she gave him a smile. "We got this, Cam."

Chuck smiled as he held his jacket open. "One good thing about pretending to be a hunter," he started as he nodded to the different weapons that were exposed, "is that we're protected if we come across something that wants to do us harm."

Christian eyed the wooden cross that had been filed down into a spike and then took a small step back. "Yeah, I think you're covered against several things."

Rossi leaned down and took his back-up pistol out and handed it to Kahlan. "You can have this, too."

Kahlan sighed.

"Aaron would want you to take it," he pointed out.

She licked her lips, took it, and then put it in her jacket pocket.

He pulled her into a hug. "Good luck and be safe."

She chuckled. "That's my line."

"We'll be listening, and we'll be ready for the signal," Cam told her as he put out his arms to also give her a hug.

She stepped back, though. "Ok, let's all try and at least act like we aren't going to our deaths, please. All this is supposed to be is a meeting between some hunters and a harvester, not us going to face some hideous creature or something."

"Right. You go make your deal, bug him, and then we'll follow him to where he keeps everything. Easy," Sebastian said with a smile.

"Easy as pie," Christian agreed.

"Pie?" Chuck asked as he opened the driver's door. "I don't really like pie," he muttered to himself as he got in and shut the door as Rossi shook his head at him. Chuck rolled down the window and smiled at them. "Now cake, on the other hand, I could go for some cake."

"Shut up and drive, Chuck," Kahlan ordered as she got in and everyone else laughed.

XXXXX

Hotch sighed as he looked at the gap in front of him. He still couldn't see the exit, and he had gotten to the end of the wall he was on. The other walls were only about six feet away, but with them being only about two feet wide, he was worried about jumping too hard and sliding off, or not jumping hard enough and not making it across.

His hand ran over the back of his neck as his eyes scanned the area around him. The mist had turned into a fog, and it seemed to be getting thicker. He huffed. It's like this damn maze knows I'm up here and it doesn't want me to be able to see anything.

He shook his head. Copper said that it would take powerful magic to make this place aware. As he remembered how painful the warlock's attacks were, he thought that the long-haired man might have that kind of power.

He looked down into the passageway below him. Or would it be better for me to drop to the ground again? He licked his lips as he tried to decide.

Making up his mind to try and stay on top of the walls, Hotch backed up a few feet to give himself a little bit of a running start. He took a deep breath and readied himself, but before he could take a step something hit him from behind, lifted him a tad, and then let him go. He fell to his knees as he screamed because the things claws had sliced into both of his shoulders.

He was able to get a glimpse of it as it zoomed passed him, and he mentally cringed. That has to be that wraith. He forced himself to stand and looked around with frantic eyes, but the thing had disappeared into the fog. "Yeah! I'm a little heavier than that gnome!" he screamed into the darkness.

He kept turning, but after several minutes, he finally took a deep breath. Maybe I am. . .

He was suddenly knocked to the surface as the black mass slammed into the back of his knees and was on him. He fought to get the thing off him; and he was able to get twisted around so he was facing it, but it ended up pinning Hotch's arms to the stone of the wall.

As he laid there, panting, the thing's red eyes stared into his, and while Hotch wouldn't bet on it, he thought the temperature was steadily rising.

The wraith's face got close to Hotch's neck, and Hotch cringed when he heard it sniff him. What the hell is it going to do, eat me right here?

The thing pulled back and looked him in the eyes again as it opened its mouth. The same red glow that was coming out of its eyes came out of its mouth, and Hotch slammed his eyes shut and turned to the side as he held his breath and tensed for the attack that he was sure was coming.

"You issss like ussss," it said in a raspy voice.

Hotch's eyes snapped to its. "What?"

"Yessss," it breathed as it got even closer to Hotch's face.

Hotch frowned. He wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe it's talking about being a prisoner.

"You issss death like ussss."

Figuring it could tell that Hotch was a vampire, Hotch forced himself to smile. "Yep."

It got even closer as it sniffed Hotch some more, and Hotch had to forcibly make himself not turn away. When it finally pulled back, Hotch raised his brows. "That's a good thing, right?"

The thing's hands pressed Hotch's forearms into the stone even harder. "Yesssss. Gaining you will make usssss more powerful."

Hotch mentally cringed. He was pretty sure that 'gaining' meant killing, or consuming, or something else just as horrible, and he swallowed as a chill ran through him despite the heat. He forced himself to smile again. "I am like you in a lot of ways, I bet, but there is one big difference between us you should consider."

"Differencessssss?"

Hotch nodded. "Yes."

"What differencesssss?"

"I have legs!" Hotch yelled as he brought up his legs, wrapped them around the thing's head, and then forced it down to the stone. It yelled in surprise, but as soon as its hands released Hotch, he rolled.

The thing scrambled to grab him again, but Hotch fell off the top of the wall and dropped towards the ground below. It screamed in frustration as it just missed Hotch's head, and the air was knocked from Hotch's lungs as he landed on his back.

He laid there, stunned, but he smiled because he could tell by the wraith's screeches that it was flying away. Well, so much for wondering if I could make that jump.

Once he could take a breath, he sat up and looked at the passageway around him. He huffed. It was too dark within the maze to see anything. He got himself standing and dusted himself off. He winced when his hand brushed across the cut on the front of his shoulder. He sighed. I guess that will heal eventually.

That's when he noticed that his hand had already healed. He smiled. Damn, I didn't even notice that. He started walking as he smiled again. Maybe I'll be healed sooner than I thought. He still had no idea how he'd healed so well after the whipping he'd received, but whatever had happened was apparently still happening, and he was thankful for it.

When he found himself at a 'T', he looked to the right. He was pretty sure going that way would take him back towards where he was while traveling on top of the walls, so he turned left and then froze.

Two glowing blue orbs were shining bright in the darkness of the passageway, and Hotch's breath caught in his throat. Son of a bitch!

XXXXX

When Chuck pulled up in front of the small, shabby building, his eyes found Kahlan's. She sighed as she shook her head, but her hand reached for the handle. "Hopefully this goes smoothly, and he'll lead us to his headquarters within the day."

Chuck hooked a thumb towards the unconscious vampire. "Do I take him in now?"

"Let's leave him out here. Maybe he'll want us to deliver him somewhere else after he checks him out."

Chuck nodded again and took out his phone. He text the man and told him they were there. The man text back immediately and told them to come on in. Chuck showed Kahlan the text and she shrugged. "He's not stupid, I'll give him that."

Chuck huffed as he opened his door. "Why can't we ever face idiots? They are so much easier to deal with."

Kahlan laughed as she joined him at the front of the vehicle. "Well, think about all the shit he has to worry about. A stupid person would not last long in this life."

He sighed. "That's true."

He beat her to the door and held it opened as he motioned for her to go first. She did, and as soon as they both passed over the threshold, they were sprayed.

Kahlan sighed as she wiped the water off her face. "We're not vampires."

"And we're not possessed!" Chuck insisted as he rubbed his face on his shoulder.

"Well, one can never be too sure. You must understand that," an older, haggard looking man told them as he sat the squirt gun down on the counter.

"You want to see if silver burns us or if we're afraid of iron, too?" Kahlan asked.

The man eyed her. "Chandler didn't say anything about a woman."

Chuck sighed. "Well, after that neck biter took out my last partner, I had to call another in to help me get him. You have a problem with that?" he asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

The man held up his hands. "No. Of course not."

Chuck nodded. "Good."

"Where is it?" the man asked.

Kahlan looked around at the little room. "We doing this here, or did you want us to take it somewhere else for you?"

The man pat the countertop he was standing next to. "Here is fine."

Chuck shrugged. "Okey, dokey." When he was almost out the door, he turned back to the man. "You gonna spray me again?"

The man shook his head. "Nah. I wouldn't want to damage the goods on accident."

Chuck huffed, but Kahlan giggled. Once he was gone, the man looked Kahlan up and down. "Female hunters are kind of rare. Family business?"

Kahlan shook her head. "No." She took a deep breath. "The supernatural world took my husband away, so, I guess, you could say it was a career change based on my want and need for revenge."

He smiled. "Hell hath no fury and all that."

She smiled one of her most evil smiles. "Hell can't even come close." She almost laughed as the man's eyes got bigger and he swallowed.

The door opened again, and Chuck walked in and plopped Willie down on the counter as if he was a sack of flour.

The man moved behind the counter as he looked the unconscious vampire over. His lips pursed and then he looked at Chuck. "He looks young."

Chuck nodded. "Yep. Every time I lost him he disappeared in a crowd of teenagers."

"Any idea how old he is?"

Chuck shrugged, but Kahlan stepped closer. "He can't be too young for as good as he was."

The man nodded and bent to get something below the counter. He stood up and sat a small, metal bowl on the counter, turned around to grab a glass bottle with a clear liquid in it, and then poured some of it in the bowl.

Chuck shot Kahlan a look, but she shrugged. "What's that?" she asked.

The man looked at her with furrowed brows, but after a second he smiled. "Oh yeah, Chandler said you have never worked with a harvester before." He gestured to the bowl, "this is how I tell how powerful that beast is," he explained and then pulled a knife out of his pocket.

That made Chuck tense, and the man noticed. "Calm down. This is for him," he told him as he grabbed Willie's hair and chopped off a chunk. "Watch," he instructed and then dropped the hair into the bowl.

It popped and sizzled for a few seconds and then a yellowish smoke started to rise from out of it, and he nodded as he smiled. "Nice. He's over a hundred for sure."

Kahlan frowned. "The smoke color tells you that?"

He nodded again. "Yes." He then proceeded to really check the vampire out. As he moved Willie's head back and forth, his smile grew. "He's kind of pretty."

Kahlan shot Chuck a look, and he frowned as he looked at the man. "Yeah, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing."

The man let Willie go in a rush as he looked at Chuck. "Not for me!"

Chuck shrugged. "Whatever. I don't judge."

The man huffed as he shook his head. "I was just thinking that instead of harvesting him that it might be more beneficial to put him in the pet trade," he explained as he continued to check Willie out.