Page 85 of Haunting the Hunter
The void doesn’t answer. Just the sound of my own breath, too loud in my ears. I try to trace my last memory—but my mind is blank.
The light bursts—spilling into a shifting smoke, soft and glowing. The smoke reaches out—caressing my skin.
I feel you. How the fuck can I feel you?
I reach out, clutching at the smoke, but it slips through my fingers like it’s teasing me.
A hum stirs under the surface of my skin and the smoke curls around my arms, across my chest. My skin prickles at the sensation, like electricity radiating through my body.
I shiver involuntarily at the feeling.
I look down at the glow clinging to me—iridescent, fading, and unreal…
You’re beautiful.
The smoke curls around my body and seeps into my skin slowly and I see…
I see my house, I see Calli… She looks scared as she paces Jack’s office, her hands in her hair.
Why is she scared? How am I seeing this?
I turn my head to see Jack typing away at his computer, fingers flying over the keys… But in my peripheral vision, I see something else… I narrow my eyes, trying to focus. A massive black figure in the corner is looming behind Calli, surrounded by smoke.
What the fuck is that—
The vision rips away as suddenly as it came and I’m swallowed by darkness again—the smoke bleeding out of my skin.
“Was that real?” I ask, my voice echoing once again.
No response.
“Speak to me!” I plead. “Please… What is going on…?”
The glow pulses then flares—searing white-hot behind my eyes. Then it’s gone. I feel myself slam back into my body.
My head is spinning as the memories rush back to me, flooding my mind.
I was taken… By Benjamin…
That vision… I saw Calli and Jack—but I saw something else.Somethingwas with her.
My eyes drag open in a slow, uneven blink. I try to move but find myself bound to a chair, duct tape over my mouth.
The room is dark—lit only by a dim lamp in the corner. Brick walls, no windows. The air is stale, metallic, smelling of blood and mildew—most likely a basement.
The door cracks and light creeps in, the heavy hinges groaning as it creaks open all the way. The silhouette of a man steps into the room.
“You’re finally awake,” a familiar voice says cheerfully.
My brow furrows as his features sharpen. He reaches out and rips the duct tape from my mouth.
“I thought you wanted help,” I spit out, face stinging as I glare up at Benjamin.
The blow to my jaw is immediate—sharp and ringing. My head whips sideways, vision spotting as the room spins.
“Thisisyou helping me. As I said—you are my leverage. Now keep your fucking mouth shut if you want to live long enough to make it through this,” he snarls, all false cheer gone from his voice and face.
I don’t respond. Clearly, he has his own agenda—otherwise, he wouldn’t have given me the information he has.
