The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

The king had a plan to break her once and for all, she would not fight him anymore, he went down to the dungeons and stood in the shadows by the door so that Leanna could not see him

“I see you still have the sword” he said, on hearing the voice Leanna looked up, who was that, she recognised that voice

“it was a gift” Leanna replied trying to see who had spoken

“it was a gift for someone who fought for what was right” the king said

“I always have” she said wanting to know who the hell was speaking to her“step out of the shadows you coward and show me who you are” Leanna shouted

“you did once” he said “and I am no coward” he added

“it is my sword and an animal like you does not deserve to hold it in his hands” Leanna shouted

“neither do you” he said stepping out of the shadows into the light, when Leanna saw who it was, she closed her eyes, her mind must be playing tricks on her

“impossible” she said and kept her eyes shut, she was hoping that she was dreaming

“as I am standing here, it is not impossible” Charlie said

“but you died” Leanna said “I killed you” she added with her eyes still closed, this could not be real, it had to be some kind of magic, he walked up to Leanna and put his hand on her face, there was denying that it was him now, she had not forgotten his touch in all these years, she remembered it like it was yesterday and tears started to run down her face, the king standing there looking at her crying forgot his place for a moment

“do not cry my love, I am here” he said to her, from behind him Leigh coughed and he snapped back to reality “look at me” he shouted “if I had known that you were still alive, I would have come for you” she said looking at him and at the monster that he had become

“you should have known, how could you of all people have got it so wrong?” Charlie asked

“how are you still alive?” Leanna asked “because I chose to be” he shouted

“tell me what happened” Leanna said still crying

“you said once that you loved me with all of you but if you loved me as much as I Loved you, then you should have known that I was alive” Charlie said, Leanna did not answer, she was playing that night over in her head to see what she had missed but there was nothing

“I spent two days in this hell whole before you came for me, he told me what he had planned for you, I tried as hard as I could to fight him for you because I loved you but he had me chained and gagged, he made me watch you fight, it was not long before I realised that you did not know that you were not fighting me, my heart broke in that moment for I knew that you did not love me, it broke even more when you were bitten, to see you turned into the thing that we had spent our life fighting against” Charlie said

“it was you” Leanna said

“if it was me then I would not be standing here” Charlie said

“how?” Leanna asked

“he found someone that looked like me, when you took the Dean’s head and left, I hoped that you would realise that it wasn’t me and come back for me, iwaited for five years as their prisoner, hoping every day that you would come back for me, five years” Charlie replied

“why?” Leanna asked

“five years is like a life time, when you did not come for me, my love for you turned to anger and then to hatred, the woman that I loved so much had abandoned me, I hated you so much, I convinced them to turn me, I taught them everything that I knew, I wanted them to trust me, I took as many hunters as I could” Charlie replied

“why? Charlie, they were our friends” Leanna asked

“for you, one of them had to know where you were, I hated you Lea, I could not stand the fact that somebody who knew me so well, did not know I was alive, I wanted you dead Lea, eventually I found your father, I tortured him weeks but he had no idea where you were, he told me that you were dead, after all you should have been, you should have seen the look on his face when he saw that it was me that had been killing all the hunters,the look on his when I told that you had been turned into one of us” Charlie smiled ”your father told me where all the children were, I took it in the end that you were dead, that you had ended it like you were taught to, I started to enjoy my life again and I even found love again, Leigh brought happiness back to me” he said looking back at Leigh

“did you kill my father?” Leanna asked

“eventually but he had to suffer first” Charlie replied

“why? Charlie, he raised you” Leanna asked

“because of you, he was your father after all, I may have grown up in his house but i was not raised I was dragged up” Charlie replied

“he never raised anyone, not even me I was only ever a weapon to him” Leanna replied

“it was a few months ago that a message came from Claxonville” Charlie said

“let me guess a boy named Sam” Leanna said “yes, that’s right” Charlie replied

“I knew that I had missed something” Leanna said

“he told me that someone was strong enough to face us, her name was brought back to me but I didn’t not know it, I was told one thing and I knew that it was you, I knew that you did not change the same way as me, you were fighting for the humans, I was certain that it was you, for I have never met anyone else with purple eyes, my feelings of hatred came back and again I wanted you dead, I knew you had to die” Charlie said

“I am sorry Charlie, if any word had reached me that you were still alive, I would have come for you, I have hidden from the world for over 4oo years, idid not know what was going on and how can you hate for something that I did not do Charlie, as far as I knew I had killed you, I left this world” Leanna said

“stop the lies, you have no idea what love is” Charlie snapped and put his hands around her neck, he did not say anything just kissed her like he had done many times before “this is love” he said turning and kissing Leigh, Leanna could not watch her heart was breaking all over again, she could not and would not fight him again it was done, as Charlie walked away he glanced back and could see by the look in her eyes that he had won, she would not fight him, she would do what he wanted her to

For the next week Charlie visited her every day talking about Jack and asking questions, he needed to know her again, he needed to know what Jack meant to her because he may have to use it against her one day

“why bring, the human?” Charlie asked

“he wanted to help” Leanna replied

“no, it is more than that” Charlie said

“why do you need to know?” Leanna asked

“there are reasons for every one’s actions” Charlie replied

“and why do you want to know now, you have never wanted to know people’s reasons before?” Leanna asked

“that is the one thing I learnt from you” Charlie said “why?” he asked again

“this time Charlie there is no reason, he wanted to help and I needed it” Leanna replied

“it is more than that” he said looking at her “and I see it now” he added

“see what?” Leanna asked

“you have feelings for Jack” Charlie replied

“never” Leanna said “I don’t the only person I have ever had feelings for is you and I will never love again, love is a weakness” she added

“there is no denying it, I can see it in your eyes when I say his name, I remember when you used to look at me like that” Charlie said

“I do not care for him” Leanna shouted

“shouting does not make any difference to your feelings Lea” Charlie said “but your heart is broken he betrayed you” he added

“he did not betray me” Leanna said “he did and he gave you that wound” Charlie said pointing at her side

“he did not betray me Charlie, I deserve this” she replied “I deserve it because I betrayed every one, I betrayed you when I left you her, I betrayedhim when I did not tell him the truth, the only blame for my capture lies with me and not him” Leanna replied

“you mean Jack” said Charlie

“yes, him” Leanna replied

“you cannot even say his name can you” Charlie laughed and was still looking at her when he realised how she actually felt for Jack “you love him, how could you think that he could ever want to be with someone like you” he added still laughing he walked out, Leanna could not answer, everything he had said had been true, except that Jack had betrayed her, she was alone again and that was the end of it, she would sit and wait for death because she was sure that Charlie would kill her

The next night everyone was called to the great hall, once everyone was in Leanna was dragged in and thrown on the floor in front of the king

“this is the hope that the humans had, shall we see what she is made of” the king said and everyone cheered “Lea you will fight, I want some fun and I want to see what has become of you” the king added and gestured for a big vampire to step forward, Leanna was released from her chains and given a sword, the big man stepped forward to fight and Leanna dropped the sword and let him attack all she wanted was death, she looked over at Jack who was standing near the king

“you will fight Lea” the king shouted but Leanna did not answer and she did not fight back, she was beaten being and did not even make a sound, Jack stood there watching and wondering why she was not fighting, why was she letting herself be beaten and he looked at her, she was staring at him“goodbye, Jack” she said into his head and turned back to face her attacker, then Jack realised that she had given up

“fight” the king shouted

“I will not give you the pleasure, if you want to kill me then just do it” she replied and noticed the ring on his finger “I see you still wear it” she added

“wear what?” he asked

“the ring, does your queen know that you are married to someone that is still living, you cannot be married to two people” she replied and everyone was staring at him

“we will try this again tomorrow and we will keep doing it until you fight or you die” the king said and Leanna was dragged from the hall and back to her cell, Jack watched as she was dragged away and could see by the look in her eyes that she had given up and only wanted death, what had the king been saying to her to make her quit, for two nights the same pattern continued, she would be dragged into fight but she would not and would just be beaten, Charlie stayed in the hall with Leigh after everyone has left

“why won’t she fight?” Charlie asked

“because she knows that you have won” Leigh replied

“she does but I want her to fight” Charlie said

“why my love?” Leigh asked “I want her to be mine” he replied

“am I not yours” Leigh said

“I did not mean like that, I hoped that breaking her would make her do what I wanted her to, instead she has just stopped” Charlie replied

“does it matter?” asked Leigh

“it does, I have never seen Leanna give up on anything but she is not fighting, she has not eaten since she was brought here and she is not healing” Charlie replied

“just kill her my love” Leigh said

“I may do but I have one last thing to try first” Charlie replied

“what?” Leigh asked

“magic” replied Charlie

“again” Leigh said

“yes, again, it worked last time” Charlie replied

“what does the spell do?” Leigha asked

“I know of a spell that can let me into her mind and make her forget” Charlie replied

“forget what?” asked Leigh

“everything but me, if I can make her forget all the other things in her head and to only remember me I can control her” Charlie replied

“will it work?” Leigh asked

“I have no idea but this is where I may have to do things that you will not like, I will have to make her see me as the man I used to be” he replied

“I told you before my love, I love you and you do what you have to as long as she suffers” Leigh replied

“I will go and start, this may take a few days” Charlie said and stood up

“do what you must” Leigh and Charlie walked from the hall and to the dungeon’s, to her cell