CHAPTER TWELVE

Hi guys. Hope you like how the story is going. In this chapter you will be briefly introduced to a human and a witch named Gabby. These two characters aren't mine and my writing buddy Deathblade 131313 has graciously allowed me to enrich my story with characters from his story The Last Survivor. Isn't he nice? Gabby and Kyle are both totally his and I take absolutely for credit for them. I suggest you read The Last Survivor if you haven't already. It's a great story.

She didn't cry for long. She couldn't afford the luxury of falling apart. Estelle needed her to be at her prime, to keep her alive. Mourning someone she had never really meant was pointless when there was someone alive who relied on her. She pulled herself together and prepared Estelle for the short trip to the store. They needed supplies.

She had a hard time opening the door and it took her a moment to realize the smaller hunter had curled up in front of it. Giving it a good hard shove she sent the hunter leaping away with a surprised shriek. Shaking herself like she was drenched she walked up to Violet cautiously. Violet ignored her and they started off down the road. It was starting to get dark and Violet was on full alert. The last thing she needed was to be ambushed. If the small group of hunters attacking Vincent's mate had grouped together like that, it was likely that other special infected would do the same.

She smelled them before they had even reached the building. The human couldn't smell them? It was sickening. Fruit and scented soap. They were clean. This confused her. Her sisters weren't clean. Why was this Crying Sister clean? She could smell the human too. Also clean. She wrinkled her nose. Overly clean. Why was there no blood? The crying sister would certainly smell the human. Perhaps she was not in such a terrible mood? Crying sisters were always in terrible moods.

She tried to warn the human with low growls but the human just hissed "Shhhh" and continued. She whimpered softly and received the same noise. Perhaps the human was unafraid? Maybe she didn't fear the crying sisters. She was a fearsome human but no human would survive. She had to fight the crying sister alone. Only death for humans then. She was sad. Her mate would be sad.

Violet headed into the store with a fairly whiney hunter. She headed directly towards the baby items. She needed to get more formula. She wanted to try to get some cereal too; as the back of the box claimed it would help Estelle sleep through the night better. She placed a few boxes of baby cereal and a few cans of formula and a couple more bottles into her bag. She needed food for herself now so she started looking through the brightly packaged shelf stable items. She decided she wanted some chocolate. She had seen a candy aisle on the last trip and decided against it, but this time she was getting all the snickers bars she could carry.

Making a mental note of where the small hunter was, she headed down to aisle six. Candy and baking goods. She turned the corner and froze. She was nearly nose to nose with a witch. The witch froze and stared as Violet backed away slowly and pulled out her gun. And this distance a headshot would be easier than tying her own shoes. She wasn't sure why she hesitated but she did. Maybe it was because the witch looked more startled than dangerous. Maybe it was because this witch didn't give off the putrid odor Violet had come to associate with witches. In fact this one was clean. Oddly so, as she was even wearing clean clothes. A simple white bra and panties set was all she wore but it was in perfect condition. No bloodstains, no filth.

She was grateful for this hesitation when a teenage boy rounded the corner. He too looked startled. He saw Violet and one word escaped his mouth.

"GABBY!"

The shout echoed in the empty store and caused Violet to jump slightly. Even Estelle made a sudden noise of displeasure at the loud noise. He was a tall boy with brown hair, and on his face was a look of sheer panic. It took violet a moment to realize that he was in fact talking to the witch. Realizing she was still pointing her gun at the bewildered witch, she lowered it and watched the odd scene unfold.

As soon as her name was shouted the witch snapped her head to the side to look at the boy. He looked scared shitless and he quickly pulled her away from Violet. Violet just watched in amazement as the boy grabbed the witch's arm and basically ran from her. She had never seen anyone get that close to a witch, let alone touch one, without getting shredded like cheese on a grater. She watched as they headed out the door.

She looked at the small hunter who appeared at her side. This changed everything. Vincent and this hunter were not an accident. They were not a fluke. There were infected people out there who were not only capable of rational thought, they were living with humans. This encounter proved to Violet that these things weren't just mindless animals. They were people. Sick people, but still human beings. That boy was taking care of that witch, watching out for her. Just like she needed to watch out for this small hunter. Because sick or not, this little hunter was alone in the world and needed a friend. Besides, Violet had never had a female friend before.

She looked at her friend and spoke, the words cutting through the silence. "You're coming inside tonight. It's too dangerous for you to be out there on your own. But you're taking a bath and you're getting a new outfit on. I'll get some meat for you, but you'll have to settle for canned. Don't make me regret this decision. Tomorrow we'll go see Vincent's old house. So you can see his life before you, and so I can see if I can figure out what happen to his wife and baby. I need to know the end of that story. Everyone's story should be told. One of these days we'll figure out yours."

The human was speaking to her. More than she had ever heard the human speak before. But it was nice. She enjoyed listening to the sounds the human made when she wasn't angry. She purred softly and followed the human home. She purred even louder when the door was held open for her. She was allowed inside the humans den? She rubbed her head against the human's leg happily. She didn't have to go to the den alone. She had a new den now. With her mates human. It was her human too now.

Violet watched nervously as the small hunter lay sleeping on the couch. This was so crazy. These things wanted to kill her and Estelle. In fact, many had tried. Yet here one was, sleeping on the couch like an oversized cat. She took Estelle up to the bedroom and locked and barricaded the door. She wanted to believe this hunter was different but she couldn't risk Estelle getting hurt. So for now, she would live uneasily. It was a small price to pay to make sure that everyone was safe.