Catherine Kos – Author

Greetings Earthlings!

I hope everyone had a good week and is having a nice and relaxing Sunday!

It’s a beautiful day in Chicago. I’ve got my window open, the sunlight streaming in, and Friday Night Lights going on in the background.

Anyways,

I’ve only posted one chapter today, but it’s a long one. Please remember to like and comment. Let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!

Chapter Six 

Bianca
The next morning I wake up to the feel of Chase drawing imaginary circles on the lower part of my back. A sigh of content spills from my mouth and after a few more seconds, I lift my head off his chest to look at him. My hair falls over my face as I smile up at him. He lifts his hand to brush the loose hair behind my ear and smiles back at me. 

 “Morning,” He says.

“Mhm. What time is it?” I ask. 

“About five-thirty.” 

I nod. 

“Do you mind if I take a shower?” I ask and he shakes his head.

Standing up, I wrap myself in the bed sheet and walk into his bathroom. 

After a quick look at Chase who sits with his hands behind his head, his legs crossed at the ankles, and a smile on his face, I close the door and turn on the hot water. 

I drop the sheet and step into the shower, and my thoughts instantly go back to last night. The shadow that I saw last night. It reminds me of… no, I don’t want to think about that. I don’t want to think about what it could mean because there is no possible way she was there. Right?

When I am out of the shower, I find Chase sleeping soundly on his bed. 

Quickly and queitly, I move through his room to his dresser, and pull out a pair of joggers, and a t-shirt. I turn to the bed, and jump on it, startling Chase awake. He looks at me, his eyes wide, and then starts tickling me in retailiation. I pull away from him, laughing, and hop off the bed. Then I slip on my shoes. 

“Leaving me already?” He asks, making me chuckle. 

“Yeah, I’m going to go over to Remi’s and borrow some clothes. I’ll meet you at school.”

I go back to the bed, leaning across it to give him a kiss. 

“I’ll see you later,” I say. 

“Bye, babe.”

Then, I am climbing out of his window, and twenty minutes later, I am climbing through Remi’s.

“Hey,” she says, giving me a tired smile as she closes the window behind me. 

“Hey, how was your date with Duke?”

“Well, it ended well,” she says with a grin and a wink. 

“Ew, that is my cousin you know,” I reply, laughing still.

“Oh, psh. You tell me all about your sexy times with Chase. Now, you can hear about mine with Duke. I just won’t go into as much detail as you do.”

“See, and this is why I can’t have another best friend. You know too much.”

“Ditto,” she replies, and pushes me playfully. I go over to the bed and sit on it, as she walks into her closet, searching for today’s outfit.

“Did you and Chase talk about this Hayden girl at all? What you two think about her?” Remi says.

“Nah, we didn’t really talk,” I chuckle, and then curse, realizing what I just said.

Remi spins around a sly grin on her face. “Oh-ho! No wonder you are in such a good mood!” 

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Uh-huh.”

“About Hayden, though, I don’t know if I trust her, but I think we can definetly use her. I don’t have my powers anymore, so – ”

Remi closes the closet door to change. 

“Hey, don’t cut yourself short, B. We still need you. I mean look at you, you work out practically every day, and you can still throw a vamp around,” she says, raising her voice slightly so I can still hear her. 

I nod, knowing she’s right.

After I lost my powers, I tried – I really did to be normal. I tried to do normal things and not think about the vampires that are out in the world, hunting people… harming them. I tried to be the normal girl with the boyfriend and the friends who went out on weekends and went to parties, and went on dates. But, I couldn’t stop thinking about the vampires. I couldn’t stop this nagging inside of me. Because even though the strength was gone, the urge was still there. I had to go on the hunt. I had to make sure that there were no vampires around to hurt anyone. So, I started working out to make sure that I was up that I could handle what ever is thrown at me.

Haven is the building that Deklan owns in Chicago. On the outside it looks abandoned, but on the inside it’s comepletely working and furnished. Deklan made a lot of modifications so that people could live there for months. It has apartments, work out rooms, a pool. Anything you could imagine. So, I started going to Haven, and started working out. When I first found out I was the Huntress I would train with Chase and Deklan, learning new fighting skills, but now I do both. Six months ago, I wasn’t a skinny girl. And, I’m not skinny now, either, but I’m fit. Actually fit, where I almost have abs showing. And it makes me so happy to see it. 

“I know, I just – I think she could be an asset,” I finally say. 

“Well, if you like her, then I like her. You know I’ve got your back, B.” 

Remi steps out of the closet, changed in a new outfit and pulling her hair in a high bun on top of her head.

“I know. Thanks, Rem.”

We talk for a little longer, gossiping and what not as she puts on her makeup. And then Duke is pulling into the driveway, and we are walking out, and climbing into the car. 

Duke slides me a look as I get in the car. 

“What?” I ask, as I put on my seatbelt. I let Remi take the front seat, and I am sitting right behind her. 

“I’m going to pretend like I don’t know where you really were last night,” he says, because I told my aunt that I was sleeping over at Remi’s house last night. 

“And, I am going to pretend that I don’t know what you were doing last night,” I reply, and Remi lets out a choked laugh.

Duke shoots her a look.

“So, we’re on the same page, then,” he says to me. 

I nod. 

“Yep.”

“Good,” he says with a smile, and then we are on our way to school.

Remi and I walk to our lockers, and grab our books for first period. 

I’m laughing at something that she says, when I look down the hall to our right. My eyes widen a little in surprise when I see Chase and Hayden walking this way, laughing and smiling, looking rather… cozy. Huh. 

“Well, don’t they look friendly,” Remi says with an inquisitive tone. 

“I trust him,” I say with a shrug, still eyeing the pair. “Plus, she’s interesting. We didn’t even know there was such a thing as a hybrid.”

“She’s not that interesting,” Remi protests with a roll of her eyes. 

The pair are in front of us now, and Hayden gives us a nod. 

“Hey,” she says, and then looks at Chase. “Thanks for the ride.” 

She turns and disappears into the crowd of people in the hallway. I look at Chase with a raised eyebrow. He regards me with a neutral face.

“I was on my way to school, saw her and her sister walking. Offered them a ride. No big deal,” he says to me in a cautious tone.

“I didn’t say anything,” I say with a shrug. 

“You don’t have to. I know how you think,” he replies, while slinging an arm over my shoulder and steering me to class. 

I roll my eyes at him, and send my elbow into his gut. 

“You have no idea what I am thinking.”

He pulls away, pressing his hand to his ribs in exaggeration.

“Ow. What’s going on? You okay?” He asks, reaching a hand out to grab one of my own.

“Peachy,” I say, pulling away and entering the classroom.

I don’t know why, but something about his attitude irritates me. Like he is trying to make me jealous or something. 

“Rose, come on,” he says behind me, his tone exasperated. 

I turn around, forcing a smile onto my face. “I’m fine. Really.” 

He gives me an appraisal, and follows me to our seats, sitting behind me.

If he wants to try and make me jealous, then he can go ahead and try but I have other things on my mind. 

Like the fact that my ‘mother’ is standing outside.

She stands on the sidewalk about forty feet away. It’s a little blury but somehow I know it’s her. She’s facing the school, staring into the classroom, right at me.

I close my eyes, count to five, and then re-open them, hoping that she will be gone. 

No such luck. I feel my heartbeat start to rise, and I look around the room to see if anyone else notices her. Chase is looking for something in his bookbag, and Remi is flirting with Duke on the other side of the room. 

I look back to the window, outside and this time she stands closer, only ten feet away this time. My hands dig into my chair, and I suddenly feel like I can’t breath. She’s clearer now, her hair greasier than I remember, her eyes heavier. 

Keeping her eyes on mine, she lifts her hand, holding one finger up in front of her mouth to say ‘sh’. 

I look to Chase once more, but he is still looking elsewhere, and this time when I look back at the window, my mother is gone.

Closing my eyes, I ball my fists and press them against my eyes. I can’t believe this is happening. Am I going crazy? What the hell is wrong with me? There is no way that she is real. Of course not. She died. I was there. I know what happened. But how else is she standing there, moving? God, I think I am going insane. 

“Hey, you okay?” Chase whispers, making me jump. 

I lower my hands, and look over to see a look of concern on his face.

God, what is he going to think if I tell him what I just saw? What I think I just saw. He’s going to call me insane and have me committed. No one needs this type of crazy in their life. There is no way I can tell him about her. Not yet. Not when I don’t know what is going on. 

“Yeah, fine. I just – I’m not feeling well is all.”

“Oh. Do you want anything? I’ve got water and Tylenol in my bag.”

“No, I’m okay. Thank you, though,” I say, appreciating his sincerity. 

Turning my attention back to the front of the class, I try to focus on the teacher as she steps up to the board and begins teaching her lesson. For most of the class, I don’t listen to anything that she says, because lets be honest, it is a history class and history is not fascinating in any means. So, I look out the window, and continuously scan the outside for any signs of my mother. 

Throwing a look over my shoulder, I whisper out, “Stop staring.” 

For the past five minutes, I could feel Chase’s eyes glued to the back of my head. 

He scoffs, but doesn’t reply, and shifts his gaze elsewhere. 

At the end of class, I leave the room, not talking to anyone. Not really sure what to say. I have the so many feeling filling my body. Dread, anticipation… fear, and countless others. With so many conflicting emotions, I don’t really know how to act normal around my friends without showing them that something is wrong. So, I leave class and walk to the next one without sharing any words. Planning to blame it later on my period or some bullshit excuse that people love to hear. 

For the most part, I avoid them all for the day. Deklan sends us all a text, saying he wants us to meet at Haven tonight, ready to hunt. 

Now, I know that I can only avoid them for so long.

After school, I go home change into my workout clothes, and grab a bag of clothes to hunt in before I head out to Haven. The sun is still out when I get here so I know I am not going to see Deklan for at least a few hours. But Alec is nowhere to be seen, which surprises me. Usually he works out after class. 

The very first thing I do is head upstairs to the gym. It is a padded room, meant for sparring, and it has a punching bag that hangs in the ceiling. I lower the punching bag that hangs up in the rafters until I can reach it, and then I wrap my hands. I attack the bag with numerous different fighting combinations, and I go for what feels like hours, punching and hitting, until my body is sore, and my muscles are screaming. I wipe the sweat from my forehead, and go outside of the room to the kitchen area to grab a drink of water.

The elevator dings as I am drinking from the glass, and the doors open. Chase walks into the room. He stops when he sees me. 

“I’ve been texting you all afternoon,” he says, a worried look on his face. 

“Sorry,” I reply, and meaning it. “I completely spaced. I’ve been working out and my phones in my bag.”

“Are you sure? You’re not avoiding me because of this morning?” He asks, putting his hands on his hips, the accusation clear in his tone.

The elevator dings again, notifying us that someone else is coming up.  

This time, I roll my eyes, annoyed.

“Yes, Chase. I am sure. I don’t care. I mean, sure I don’t exactly trust her, but do I think she is here to cause trouble? No.”

The doors open as I finish my words. Hayden steps out, a wicked grin on her face. 

“Oh, I’m here to cause trouble. Just not for you.”

Suddenly anger fills my body. I’m completely fed up. Agitated. Annoyed with her and her ‘I’m to cool for school’ attitude. Frustrated with her being here, and everyone’s fascination about the ‘new toy’. And she doesn’t help with the anger I am feeling right now. So I can’t help but snap at her. 

“Private conversation here. See your way out of it.”

Her grin just grows and she places her hand on her hips. “Well, considering you are talking about me, I think I should be allowed into the conversation.”

My eyes narrow, and I put down my glass, stepping around the counter. Chase puts a hand out, stopping me from going to her. 

“Bianca,” he warns. 

I look at his hand, then look up at him, raising an eyebrow. 

“You’re not going to kill her,” he says, as if it is completely obvious. 

“Of course not. Not kill. Maybe seriously injure. Definitely injure,” I reply looking back at Hayden. She spreads her hands out to her sides in a ‘come at me’ gesture. 

“Hit me with your best shot,” she says. 

“With pleasure,” I reply, yanking my hand from Chase’s grip, walking towards Hayden. 

“Bianca,” Chase calls, and it is like a bucket of water has been thrown on me. 

All of the anger seeps from my body and I realize what I am about to do. I look at Hayden, who of course is ready for a fight, looks at me with a raised eyebrow. 

“I – I’m sorry. I don’t – I don’t know what came over me,” I say, and run hand threw my hair. 

Hayden looks taken aback, opens and closes her mouth once. Then she opens it again. “It’s cool.”

The elevator dings again, and the doors open, revealing Deklan with Alec, Duke, Remi, and Sara behind him. They all step into the room, quiet, looking between the three of us. Obviously, they can tell that something happened, or was about to happen. 

“Am I missing something?” Deklan asks, his eyebrows raised.

“No,” I say quickly. “Everything is fine.”

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t really care less what any of them think right now. I have to figured out what the hell is going on with me. I don’t do this. I have no reason to want to fight Hayden, and lets be honest, that escalated really quickly, and she didn’t even do anything. What is going on with me?

Everyone spreards around the room, and I walk over to the far wall near the window, and lean against it. I stare down at my feet thinking about the almost fight. The rage that had consumed me, came out of nowhere. Like someone had flipped a switch. One minute I was fine, then Hayden said something and I was just so angry.

Feet appear by mine, and I look up at Remi standing in front of me.

“You okay?” She asks, and I nod. 

“Peachy.”

Behind her I see Chase watching me but I look away. 

I don’t know how to answer the questions he has because I have the exact same ones. 

Deklan clears his throat.

“The reason why I wanted us all to meet – I have a friend who has told me that there is a gathering of sorts tonight. To celebrate The Aldinn. It’s going to be downtown. I don’t have a distinct location, but we do believe it to be in a familiar neighborhood. One that he has cultivated before. I want you all to go and check it out. Don’t fight, don’t hunt. I want you to try and blend in, get a feel of what is going on, and then report back. We’ll give the intel to the Rogues, and then they will go in. You are going to go in two separate groups. Hayden, Chase, and Duke are going to go in one group. Alec, Remi, and Bianca in the other. Get geared up, and head out. I want you guys down their fast.”

I’m the first to break away from the group, and grab my bag before going into the bathroom next to the kitchen to splash some water on my face. I take a hand towel from my bag and wipe my body of sweat, before reapplying some deodorant. I don’t really have time to shower, so I have to work with what I’ve got. I pull my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, and then pull on a pair of faux red leather pants, a black top with sheer sleeves, a pair of bike boots.

When I walk out of the bathroom, ready to go, everyone is talking amongst themselves. I toss my bag to the floor outside the bathroom, and then I look up to see Chase heading over to me. He stops three feet in front of me, opens his mouth, but Duke interrupts him. 

“Damn, Yanca, it’s about time. You take forever to change. Everyone is waiting for you.” Yanca is the nickname Duke has given me, the name that only he uses. He stands a few feet behind Chase, his eyes on the blonde boy in front of me. He looks at me, and I hope he can read how grateful I am with my eyes. He nods to me. 

“Yeah, right,” I say, playing my part. “That was the fastest I’ve ever changed, thank you. So, let’s go,” I say clapping my hands together. I look to Chase. “I’ll see you late, yeah?” 

He stares at me for a minute, and then nods. “Yeah, okay.” 

“Remember,” Deklan calls, getting everyone’s attention. “Don’t kill anyone. You are just going there to observe.”

We nod, and then Alec, Chase, Duke, Remi, Hayden, and I are crowding onto the elevator, and riding it in silence. I stand in the back corner with Duke to my left, and he grabs my left hand with his right, and squeezes it. I don’t look at him, but I squeeze back. Then the elevator is dinging, and the doors are opening, and we are stepping out. 

Remi, and Duke kiss quickly, and then they separate going in opposite directions. Alec follows Remi, heading over to Alec’s car. I go to follow, but Chase grabs my hand and pulls me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist, and the other in the neckline of my hair. He presses his mouth against my ear. 

“Be careful,” he whispers. 

“You too,” is my muffled reply. 

He places a kiss against my cheek, and then pulls away, leaving me cold. He gives me a smile, and then he turns and walks to Hayden who stands waiting for him. Together they go to Duke’s escalade parked up the street. I spin, and jog over to Alec’s car, where Remi and Alec are already inside waiting.

The end… for now.

What do you think is going on with Bianca? Is it really her mother that she is seeing? What do you think is going to happen next?

Stay rad!

-Catherine Kos