Sapphira paced round the cell. It had been three days since she had been put there. She only knew this from her watch. It was only three days to Samhain and John and Cassie were growing increasingly worried. It was perfectly understandable, they were due to die soon and there was no sign of anyone from Circle Daybreak. What made it even worse that Hunter had decided to come in every few hours to taunt them. He was due very soon, they could tell without him saying anything. Sapphira was tired of this. She was tired of trying to stay calm, focused and strong. Her mind was filled with the desire to rage, scream and throw things around the room and then to find a nice corner somewhere to cry in. As the oldest here, she felt she must stay strong, anyway Ebony would not want her to give in to Hunter's wishes. If he wanted to see this Daybreaker broken, then he would have long wait!
     The cell door swung open to reveal Hunter Redfern and... Ebony! She couldn't believe what she saw. Hunter grinned at her reaction. Ebony stared into her eyes though and she heard his voice in her mind 'I will have to pretend that I led you on. I will come back on the night of the Samhain meeting when Hunter is making his speech to the assembly. I will get you all out of here then. I am going to act as if I have betrayed you and you must play along. Hunter's ego is so big that he will hopefully dismiss it. Be careful to shield your inner emotions though. I apologise for this in advance.'
     'But how can I hear you? What is going on?' Sapphira replied, talking to him in her mind.
     'I think it's a soulmate thing. Look just play along please, I am doing all I can to save you and the others. I have even been in contact with Thierry.'
     "Are you surprised to see your 'soulmate' here, Sapphira? I brought him to show you that this entire soulmates business is false emotion. You are all deluding yourselves. It was Ebony here who suggested that we pick you. Why do you think he was late that day?" Hunter's voice broke through their private conversation.
     "Ebony? What does he mean?" she asked, her acting skills taking over.
     "Exactly what he says. Don't you see Sapphira" Ebony's voice seemed like the old one then, full of sarcasm and darkness, but his eyes were filled with his inner love for her. "I tricked you and lied to you. Hunter wanted me to find a subject for his... demonstration. I found you. It was really quite cute the way you latched on to me, but I am a Vampire and I don't have time for pets!"
     Sapphira tried to avoid the warmth in Ebony's eyes, as she knew it would affect her next response. "You betrayed me? How could you? I loved you, and I thought you felt the same! I never want to see you again! Go away! I never want to see you again as long as I live!" Sapphira was grateful for her years of Drama classes. Right now she let anger and hatred fill her mind and heart. She blinded herself in it and soon it felt as if she was really feeling it, a part of her wanted to kill Ebony! Ebony recoiled at her reaction, he hadn't thought it would be quite so fierce. Hunter was ecstatic and he chuckled to himself.
     "Well, Ebony, it appears our ruse had the desired effect. Let us leave now. You can come back and taunt her some more later. We have plans to set in motion and so little time left. It is good to have you at my side. I thought I had lost you for a while back there. I should have known you better than that. Goodbye my secret weapons. I will not see you again until your judgement night. Have a nice few days until then, farewell!"
     With that, Ebony and Hunter left, leaving Sapphira to explain what had just occurred. The other two laughed when they heard and felt great relief that their ordeal would not end in tragedy after all. Sapphira felt happier, but she had caught from Ebony's mental voice, a tone of insecurity. She hoped everything would work out okay but she knew it wasn't certain. For now she would be optimistic and never show the other two she had any doubts whatsoever. All they could do now was wait either for death or for rescue. Sapphira prayed that it would be rescue, the alternative was too horrible.

     "Thierry, you must listen to me!" Ebony's emerald eyes flashed with anger and frustration as he restlessly paced the hall of Thierry's mansion.
     "I have no reason to trust you, Ebony. You knocked Quinn out and ran off, only to return later telling me I have to follow your plan! Do you really think that Talera there will trust you with her friend's life, or her parents, or the parents of the others involved? Why should we believe you after you run away from us, after you asked us for help!" Now it was Thierry's turn to look annoyed. Hannah comforted him, turning her soulmate away from the young Vampire in front of him.
     "I went because I couldn't stand to just sit there while you debated whether or not to help my soulmate! I went because I thought of a way I could find out where she was and get to see her. I accomplished more by leaving then, than I would've if I had just sat there! I need your help to get her out, and the others too. For the moment, I believe Hunter is taken in, but for how long? He is not stupid and he will realise that I am working against him! Without your help there is no way I can get all of them out in time! If you have a better plan, then please tell me, if not, then help me, for their sakes!"
     "I still wonder if we can trust you Ebony. However we have to do something and your plan is as good as another. Who do you need? But, Ebony if you betray us then you will have proved right everything Hunter believes. I sincerely hope you will not do that."
     "I need Rashel, Quinn, and possibly Ash as well."
     "You three, with Ebony. Okay, so what do the rest of us do?"
     "Let me explain..."

     Hunter smiled broadly at the other leaders of the Night World around him. Even Thierry was here, the betrayer, the leader of Circle Daybreak. Well he would get his reward. Tonight, Hunter would see to it that Circle Daybreak was broken for good. The scattered remnants could then be picked off one at a time. He was really going to enjoy bringing Thierry, Ash and Quinn to justice! After all, they had broken Night World law, and Quinn and Ash had broken his trust. It was good to see that Ebony, the last of Hunter's prodigy, had not gone the same way. His loyalty was assured.
     Hunter paused a moment with that thought, perhaps Ebony had staged that little scene in the cell with Sapphira. But that was impossible, there was no way a Witch could hear a Vampire's thoughts. He was just being paranoid. Hunter decided it was better to check. He moved outside of the circle around the fire and called out. A werewolf answered him and he sent it to guard the prisoners. Ebony was not to be allowed in, only Hunter himself was allowed in that cell. The werewolf left and Hunter again felt secure in the knowledge that everything was going according to plan.

to be continued!!

Part 5

Stories Inspired by

My Fan Fiction

Index