Chapter 3

The man reached in the cabinet further to shock him when suddenly from the shadows, a pair of slender arms pulled the man into a chokehold. He dropped the taser and fell back on the ground, a smaller figure attached to his back hitting the ground with him. Priar watched his legs kick as he squirmed across the ground, but nothing was going to release that ironclad grip.

When the man finally stopped moving, Priar saw his savior slide the man's unconscious body to the side. She took a breath before standing, taking the moment to compose herself. Priar cautiously crept from the cabinet making sure to not leave her unchecked. Anyone could be a hunter and he didn't recognize this woman from the flight.

 He'd seen people punched, kicked, and slapped, but choked out was something he wasn't accustomed to. The man laid entirely still, no groans of pain, no cursing her out in anger, only the faint strained breath for air. He imagined himself in that position and it sent a shiver down his spine thinking of how afraid the man must've felt knowing what was happening to him.

"Is- he dead?" Priar asked.

"You idiot" She spoke, her voice a mix of annoyance and exhaustion. "No, he's not dead." she quickly jogged back to the broken door, peeking an eye out. The halls were cleared from the jam now, and aside from the occasional scream, it seemed quiet. Priar looked at Slug and saw him laid out, his cheek pressed against the tiled floor. He crouched beside the unconscious Slug and shook his shoulder. No response.

"Who are you?" Priar asked, still struggling to wrap his head around today's events. 

"Jolie." she responded quickly, scanning the hall.

"I'm Priar. This is Slug." he pointed to his friend, drooling into a crack in the floor. He shook him harder but to no avail. Jolie glanced back at the pair, the light from the hall reflecting on her face. Her hair was loose and frizzled, she grimaced at the sight of them. She knew what she needed to do, but hated the idea of Priar resisting, but what other choice would she have?

"Leave him. He'd only slow us down." she spoke with a guilty heart. 

"What? No, we can't just leave him here." Priar rose to his feet, angered by the very idea. "Who knows what these psychos would do to him. I'm not leaving him here to die." 

"He's going to be fine. He failed the test when he got hit. They don't go after failures." she looked back to the hall, anxious of another attacker. "There'd be no point in keeping him around, he's dead weight." she glanced at Priar a final time. "Either you leave him or I leave you."

Priar clenched his jaw. He couldn't just leave him behind, not only that, but what would happen to him now that he'd failed? All these questions left unanswered in Priar's mind. He'd never had to make a choice like this before. Both options seemed wrong, she couldn't ask him to leave the only face he could trust. Even though she saved Priar, didn't seem like someone he could turn his back to easily. Was this really the only way? 

He looked down to his fallen friend once more. Jolie rolled her eyes and stepped out of the kitchen making sure to check both ways before sprinting off further into the hall

"God damnit!" Priar swallowed his pride and followed after her.

. . .

Despite Jolie's build, she moved faster than Priar. She ducked corners like she was born in shadow, whereas Priar clumsily shuffled to catch up with her. Luckily there'd not been someone along their path. They hid at the top of a wide staircase that led to the main entrance of the building , Priar almost slipped on the rough red rug that led down to the manor's front doors. It was detailed in gold and followed the flow of the staircase until it reached the front. It would be a straight shot, easy enough for anyone, but Jolie was smart enough to not fall so easily to such a predictable ambush point.

"Someone's here" she whispered to Priar.

"Where?" he replied.

"Can't tell, but keep an eye out." The fact she could make the assessment so quickly surprised Priar. Just how often had she been put in these situations?

"Ok, so what do we do?" he asked.

"No clue, hope for the best." she said, then strided down the steps. Priar, thrown off, scrambled after her, barely keeping up. 

Jolie raced to the doorknob, grabbing a hold of it and pushing as hard as she could. The door did not move an inch. She tried once again, still no purchase. She looked out the window to see a wooden beam nailed on either side of the door Jolie, dumbfounded, gritted her teeth taking a step back and kicking the door in. Priar finally approached her side seeing her frustration then eventually noticing the beams as well. His breath began to quicken and his mind raced alongside it.

What do we do now? Is there another exit? What's going to happen if we fail? What'll happen to Slug? Just where did Jolie come from? Is she a hunter too?

"My, aren't you irritated." 

A voice called from the darkness underneath the staircase. A man stepped out, short blonde hair slicked back, the ends curled around his ear. Suddenly two more figures approached them from the shadows. Jolie's shoulders slumped hearing the voice. Priar looked onward to the group of hunters, watching the pair as hungry predators.

"Time does indeed fly by, my dear Jolie." he said with a confident grin.

"Malcolm…" Jolie groaned, turning to him with daggers in her eyes.

"The last time I saw you, you were a foot taller than me and much prettier. Now look at you. Disgusting," He laughed, "I take it your father disapproves of this new look" at the mention of her dad she sprung forward charging at Malcolm prepared to take his head off of his shoulders. Priar quickly backed away and let her do what she did best.

Malcolm's eyes widened seeing her speed, before Jolie swung a heavy fist aimed to knock him out in a single blow. He turned with the punch, then in what seemed to Priar like the blink of an eye, he wrapped his arms around Jolie, then kicked her legs out from under her, sending her down to the floor. She tried to get distance from the enemy she very clearly underestimated, only Malcolm had never let go. His grip finding its way to her wrist, he dropped to the floor wrapping his calf around her neck, bending her arm back in his hold. Jolie's breathing quickly became panicked. She knew what this hold was because she'd done it to Malcolm many times when they were younger. Back then he'd tap out every time to this hold, it was inescapable. Not even Jolie herself was able to break it and this time she doubted Malcolm would allow her to tap out.

One of the men Malcolm had at his side who wore an eyepatch, he inched closer and closer to Priar waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Priar wasn't sure what he could do to save this. He didn't have time to think. He didn't have time to plan, all he needed was a plan and he was certain everything would go right. 

Priar kept on the defensive backing up to the door, jiggling the knob once more in a desperate hope. There was no running from this. The man with the eyepatch noticed Priar's attention diverted for only a second and it was all he needed to strike. He cocked his arm back swinging a wild right hook for Priar, but he barely slipped out of the way of it, running to the man's side. His hand broke through the glass on the door, but he watched Priar, determined. He pulled his bloodied hand from the window and kept on the attack rushing Priar. He turned around and ran as fast as he could to the stairs, only to notice the last member of Malcolm's entourage sitting on the steps, chewing a piece of gum. He played with his curly hair spectating the fights. 

"Don't look at me, little man." He said. Priar suddenly felt a meaty hand grip the back of his shirt before he was yanked from the staircase and to the main floor. He sat up, back sore and panicked. He could see Jolie under the stairs frantically banging on the ground as a strained vein bulged in Malcolms forehead. He was going to break her arm. 

"Wait, STOP!" Priar yelled to Malcolm. Malcolm looked to Priar seeing the worry on his face and flashed a sinister smile. 

"There's few things in this world you achieve on your own, little girl. Let this be a lesson. You will never beat me on your own." 

Eyepatch turned to his leader and realized how far Malcolm was taking this grudge. He yelled out."Hey! That's enough-"

 Before he could finish the plea, Priar shot past him charging for Malcolm, his smile faded as he saw the reckless boy barreling towards him.

He jumped up, stretching his leg out as far as he could. Priar's knee slammed into Malcolm's face like a missile, Malcolm releasing his grip on the poor girl. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, a bloodied nose leaking down the sides of his cheek. Jolie rolled over in pain, holding her arm.Whether it was broken or not, neither had any idea, the pain was all the same and so too was her fear. Eyepatch rushed to Jolie, not to finish the fight, but instead to check on her. He wanted to fix her, but he didn't know how, so instead he opted to hover his hands over her arm.

"Oh my god, are you alright? Is it broken? T, what are we gonna do if he broke her damn arm!?" Priar, surprised by his own action, watched the blood seep from Malcolm's nose, his heart racing. Eyepatch's voice barely registered to him, he wasn't in shock over what he'd just done. In fact it was the opposite, he'd never felt more alive and that scared him. The rush of it all made his blood flow faster than anything he'd ever felt before. For the first time since middle school, he felt…good?

The curly haired man referred to as T, stood from the stairs, unbothered by the situation. He blew out his bubble gum, it's pop echoing in the hall. He walked closer to Priar, taking a taser from his side. The crackle of the electricity snapped Priar from his trance, but it was already too late, he had nowhere to go. Priar felt the surge vibrate into his collarbone and spread to his toes. His muscles tensed, his teeth grinded against each other. He'd been forced into excruciating pain for what felt like an eternity. It had only been on his neck for a few seconds, but those seconds bled to years. Priar fell to the floor, his vision blurring. T stepped over him and walked closer to Eyepatch.

"That one's mine, Jolie is his, and you'll have to find your own. So can we go?"

Soon it all faded to black, if Priar would ever wake up again he'd now have to face the undoubtable reality that he had failed.