Chapter 31

The Nest of the Jackals

As always- Read, Love, Review.

Chloe's POV

"Chloe are you sure about this?" Kai asked me for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's only fair that we make sure you get home safely after it was us who hurt you in the first place."

"How much further is it now?" Alek asked, stepping closer to me as he said it. His shoulders were tense as his eyes darted back and forth looking for danger. Jasmine was ahead of us with Kai while Derek was trailing behind us. I didn't tell Amy that I was leaving, knowing that she would want to come along with us. Though that means that I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining that to her later.

"Not far at all." It had taken us a while to get here. After around twenty minutes of driving it was around five minutes to their hideout near some train track stations. We've heard a total of three trains pass by already, and had once gotten so close that we could feel it driving past. "It should be right ahe-." Kai suddenly stopped in his tracks, terror crossed his face.

Suddenly I could feel his terror just as much as he could. My thoughts swarmed in my head as I tried to make sense of everything he was feeling- terror, panic and confusion. Then I felt anger so powerful that I nearly lunged at Mimi, simply because she was in front of me at the time. Just a few seconds later everything disappeared just as suddenly as it came. I dropped to the ground, feeling wiped.

"You promised!" Kai screamed, looking right at me. "You said nothing would happen to them!" I felt Alek's arm wrapping around me, pulling me up and behind him. Before I could question him to see what was wrong, he ran faster than I ever imagined was possible to the entrance of the cave like thing. That's when I noticed the claw marks directly to the left of the door.

Instantly I tried to follow him, just causing Alek to grab my hand to prevent me from continuing. "Chloe-," He never got to continue before I interrupted.

"We're not leaving him now." Fury and control laced my every word. "Especially if Valentina is behind this." Alek's jaw locked, and I saw conflict in his eyes. "We need to make this right now before our relationship gets worse with them. Mai everywhere could pay if we don't."

"It could be a trick to get us inside." Jasmine reasoned behind us.

"It's not," Certainty rang through my voice. The empathy hit showed true emotions- terror and confusion. If it was a trick then he wouldn't have had such strong feelings. With that being said, I continued forward quickly, running as fast as I could. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the new light, and that's when I saw that there were tunnels everywhere. Jasmine, Alek and Derek were right behind me. "Kai?"

"Chloe don't-." I heard him start to scream back in one of the tunnels to the right of us, but then he was suddenly cut off. Terror raced through me as I started to follow where I thought I heard it, but I wasn't sure. It could've been the one further to the right.

"I'll follow her. You guys take the next tunnel and check there." I heard Alek quickly order and then they all took off without hesitation. Even though I was running, it only took him a few moments to catch up with me. "Don't run off by yourself, understand?" He told me as soon as we stepped in an opening. I knew he was just worried about me, unsure about what the situation held, but I didn't care. I needed to make sure Kai was alright. Something told me in my gut that I had to make sure he was okay. I don't know why but something seemed wrong. I felt as if he was in trouble, and that we were.

When I finally slowed down in the large opening, my terror nearly overcame me. It was the exact same room as the nightmare. My breath hitched, and I flashbacked to the dream where I was being choked to death. I froze in my spot for around thirty seconds before I finally regained control. "We need to get out of here." I said, and turned around to face him. "Now,"

"Chloe, what's wrong?" His eyes started to dart around, looking for threats. I saw him reach down to the bottom of his pant legs and he pulled out a huge knife.

"We need to leave. Where's Jasmine and Derek?" I tried to focus on my hearing, to pick up their heartbeat or them talking, but instead I started to hear more heartbeats, more people walking then there should be. I grabbed his arm and pulled him behind me as I started to run where we came from. Before I could get far, a group of people blocked our entrance. Jackals.

There were four of them. A larger older man who appeared to be around the same age as Valentina. He was huge- at least six foot five and he easily had another hundred twenty pounds on me. His face was dirty, almost as if he didn't shower often, and multiple scars were visible on him. It was a safe bet that he was the leader judging from his position in the middle. It was the man in my dream that stood behind Kai as he killed me.

The second man was big, not as big as the first but still larger than me or Alek. His greasy black hair was just as unkempt as the first, and he had a huge sadistic grin on his face.

Then there were two teenage boys, probably the same age as I. They had slightly lighter brown hair, but it was just as greasy and long as the others. They were shorter, and smaller but I could see well defined muscles in both of them. They stood at the ends of the other two, on either side. The one on the right, with blonder hair, reminded me of Kai with the similar hair style as well as bone structure. His brown eyes pierced through me. He didn't look as happy as the rest, but instead uncomfortable and worried.

Alek and I started to back up, looking for escape. As soon as we turned around to the other tunnel to our left, another group of people blocked our way. This group was a lot larger, maybe ten people.

"Chloe, Run!" I heard Jasmine yell, and that's when I noticed her being held by two Jackals in the back. She had a black eye as well as a split lip, but other than that there wasn't too much damage done. Derek, on the other hand, was being half dragged, half carried. Blood dripped from his forehead, his eyes unfocussed. I saw two Jackals pulling Kai to the front to talk with the leader, following behind them was Jasmine and Derek.

There was a third entrance, the one straight ahead from where we entered but I didn't even think about heading that way. There was no way that I was leaving Jasmine and Alek behind.

"Well well well. Look at what we have here." The largest one from before started to say. The fifteen Jackals started to all come closer, trapping us between them. It was odd how quickly they all moved in synch, as if they had planned and practiced. "When one of the members said that my son was friends with the Uniter, and then told me his plan, I didn't actually think you would be stupid enough to come without backup." Alek pulled me behind him so I was the closest to the third exit while he was blocking me from the group of Jackals.

"Run," I heard him say, his face only slightly tilted to the side as he talked.

"No way," I stared at the back of his head incredulously. He didn't actually think that I would leave him behind, did he?

"You promised." This time his face turned completely to look me straight in the eye. My heart tore in two as I recalled the promise, knowing that even though I meant it at the time, there was no way that I was going to leave now. Not when they were all in danger. Not when I needed to help them. "Please," He begged me.

"It wouldn't matter." The leader called out to us. "She wouldn't be able to make the exit. Not even the fastest Mai can outrun us." His voice was completely confident, knowing that he was going to win whatever what was going to happen next.

"What do you want?" I tried to keep my voice even, unafraid, but even I could hear the tremble in it.

"Isn't that obvious?" The leader chuckled as he walked towards us, stopping only five feet away. "You're the Uniter. Their Savior," He nearly spat. His voice which was once filled with humor turned bitter and cold. "Allowing you to live means that we would allow them to survive."

"Look, I know how it was in the past with you guys, but I'm not like that. I don't want to war to continue between everyone." I tried telling him, but a small part of me already knew that it wouldn't do much good at this point.

"That's not good enough." He sneered. I could clearly smell his unwashed body. It was a toxic mix of garbage, human waste and animal. Unlike Kai, my body could immediately identify him as a Jackal.

"Then let them go." Just like the dream, I was going to beg for them to be let go. But it won't happen, will it? "And just keep me. I'm the one you want. The one that can change the game." I could hear the protests from everyone around me. "Kill me, not them."

"Chloe!" Alek hissed loudly but it didn't change anything about how I felt. And it wouldn't.

"My spy did tell me about your stupid over dedication to your friends and family. The undying loyalty." He stepped closer to me. "You really mean it, don't you? You would give up your life in a second to protect them." He lifted his hand, with the long unkept dirty fingernails and started to raise it to my face. Before he could touch me, Alek had managed to pull me behind him, grab the arm to force it down, and shoved the Jackal away.

"You touch her and I swear to Bassat that it will be the last thing before your death." Alek growled. Growls rippled through his body. Instead of looking scared, the leader looked amused.

"You think you scare me, Little Kitten? Do you really think you can beat me?" His voice raised, echoing throughout the tunnels over and over. "I've been in many more battles than you boy."

Then all hell broke loose.

Alek lunged at the leader, taking him down for only a second before he retaliated. I tried to jump in to help Alek, but then I was attacked by two different Jackals. We scuffled for a bit. I managed to kick one to the ground, and hit another in the face. Blood dripped down his face, but it didn't seem to hurt him much. The other one got to his feet faster than I thought he would, landing a few punches. One to my face, arm, and then stomach. When I was recovering from the punch to the stomach, they quickly forced me on my knees. Each one held an arm tightly, restricting me from struggling. That didn't stop me from trying though.

"Don't harm her," The Jackal leader ordered. "Her first life is mine." He said it calmly right as he backhanded Alek in the face. Alek fell to the ground, hard. I could see his lip was split and bruises covered his face. Pain laced his face but instead of staying down, he started to struggle to get up. "Haven't you had enough yet Boy?" The Jackal leader snarled at him.

"Not until you let her go." Determination rang in every word and it made me cringe. Alek couldn't do this- he was going to lose and even possibly killed.

"Alek, please don't." I begged him, while continuing to struggle. It didn't do any good. One of them could probably keep me down, but I didn't stand a chance against two.

"That's not going to happen." He grinned widely. Alek lunged at him again, causing me to wince.

Alek was good, it was clear throughout his fight. He was quicker, and had more precise moves that landed more accurately. But that didn't matter. Not only was the Jackal stronger, but even Alek's strongest moves didn't seem to harm him. With one strong punch, Jackal could cause him to fly backwards a few feet.

"No!" I screamed as the Jackal leader hit Alek so hard that he collapsed to the ground. Get up Alek. PleaseI begged slightly in my mind. Please. I can't lose you. But my silent pleas didn't make a difference as Alek couldn't get up. Blood dripped from his face, and I could see him breathing heavily. He got up to his knees for a second but then was harshly kicked in the stomach. And then again and once more. I was expecting some sound to come out from him, a gasp, a moan or a cry of pain. But there was nothing- he stayed silent.

The Jackal leader grinned and then bent down to pick him up. Alek hung limply in his arms, not putting up much resistance. He almost looked like a doll. "Leave him alone!" I shouted at the leader. "Don't you dare touch him!" Tears started to gather in my eyes, but at that moment I didn't care if I showed any weakness. The Jackal leader turned around to look at me, amusement still in his eyes. "Please, he won't fight anymore." I sobbed. "Just take me. Please," In the background I could hear Jasmine screaming, and maybe some light protests from Alek but it didn't matter. Nothing they could say would change my mind. "Please," My voice dropped down to a whisper.

Finally, my pleas worked. The Jackal leader put him down by dropping him and came on over towards where I knelt. As soon as he got over to where I was, both of the Jackals let go of my arms. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment." He said as he pulled out a knife.

"Father, don't do this." I heard Kai scream and then I saw him suddenly charge at his father. How did he get out of the others grip? He managed to knock the knife out of his father's grip before being knocked to the ground.

"Don't you defy me son. Not again, or you will regret it." At this point, I had gotten to my feet again, my feet positioned ready for action. The Jackal leader turned his attention back to me, and before I could respond, he lunged at me.

Alek barely stood a chance against him, and I wasn't even close. He backhanded me to the face and I could feel the rush of blood go to my face. My lip split open. I stumbled backwards a bit before I was finally able to regain balance. As soon as I regained balance, he hit me again, knocking me to the ground.

I quickly got back on to my feet and struck out- hitting him in the neck. He staggered, and I took the opportunity to unsheathe my claws and rake them across his face. He let out a scream and swear words. I underestimated the amount of time that it would take him to recover, allowing him to hit me in the face again, and then he hit me in the stomach, hard, knocking all my breath away.

He didn't slow down as he continued to hit me everywhere. I felt another backhanded hit to the face, and then another on my shoulder. Before I knew it, I had fallen to the ground. Pain radiated from every part of my body. My vision started to become blurry, probably from all the hits to the head that I've sustained.

But he still didn't stop there. His leg connected with my stomach, over and over and over. I could feel a few of my ribs crack under the pressure and I screamed out in pain. Somewhere in the background I thought that I heard a few screams of protests from my friends, but I was too lost inside the pain to be able to hear fully.

I gasped for air. The ribs made it nearly impossible to take a breath, and each breath felt like a knife being stabbed into my lungs. Suddenly I felt two hands around my neck, choking me, and a body over mine. My vision, while still blurry, saw the Jackal leader smiling as he choked the life out of me. I weakly tried to claw at his hands, but I didn't do much damage in the state that I was in.

His grip didn't loosen around my neck. Instead, his grip got tighter. The feeling of suffocation was awful. Just as bad as drowning. I could feel the back of my head bleeding from where he slammed my head on the ground, and the bruises that would cover my body.

My hands dropped to the side, giving up. I could hear Alek screaming at me. "Chloe, damn it, fight!" His voice screamed loudly. I realized how much pain he was going to be in. But I couldn't fight. I hurt too much.

Soon, dark dots clouded my vision, and I started to get dizzy. Noise seemed to fade, and the only thing I could hear was my frantic heartbeat pounding in my chest. Then, the world completely faded.