HUNTED

For the remaining part of the day, Aila was left with the others in the cells. She used the time to rest, and thankfully, Connor did not return at dinner time, neither did Chase. Another unknown hunter turned up, and as usual, they were given a small bowl full of rice, whereas Gabriel was provided with a small vial of blood.

"Ugh, pigs' blood. That is too fatty." Gabriel complained.

"Are you watching your waistline?" Finn smirked.

"It just tastes awful. Nothing like human blood," Aila could almost see Gabriel salivating at the thought.

"I can't believe this is my life now." She stated.

"At least you're not a mosquito like Gabe there," Finn replied.

"Gabriel. And keep up with the insults, and I'll leave you in the cell to rot."

"Right. Sorry. Habit," Finn sheepishly smiled in Gabriel's direction.

Once the lights went out, they began to plan again. Going through each step meticulously. Aila would make sure to turn everything off in the control room by 8 pm the next day. Giving Gabriel enough time for his body to recover and evaporate any traces of the drug left in his system. This was also the perfect time for Aila to sneak out of the room when it was dark, and the hunters would have already made their rounds to give them food and settle down.

The easiest part of their plan was the guys busting out of their cells and getting through the door. Aila, however, would have to sneak across to the control room unnoticed and take out anyone in there. She also stupidly nodded her head when they asked her if she had any fighting experience. Now that she thought about it, no, no, she had not. Unless 'boxercise' fitness class counted, then yes. She knew how to hit; it couldn't be that hard. Surely?

After that, she would need to figure out how to get the metal door open, CCTV cameras off, and the air ducts she already knew there was a switch to turn them off. Subsequently, she would meet the others outside the metal door that leads down to the basement. They would try to sneak around unnoticed for as long as possible. Once they made it outside, Finn and Ajax would shift, and Gabriel would carry Aila; unless she spontaneously started to shift, that was their best course of action.

They would keep running until they found a car and hotwired it; both vampire speed and werewolf speed were just as fast, if not faster than a car. Unfortunately, they were all weak and would not keep up a pace for very long. Finding a car was their next priority.

That was the plan. There was no going back from it now. Aila tried to calm herself down, but anxiety clutched at her body wickedly, keeping her mind awake with the bottomless questions of 'what if's, while her nerves formed butterflies tingling in her belly. She needed to get the most rest, to recover and play her part well for their escape.

When the morning finally came, the sun shone through the window, waking them all up. Aila sat up, rubbing her eyes; if she thought she felt terrible yesterday, today was much worse. Her muscles felt sore and tight; she groaned as she leaned against the wall.

"Yep, that is definitely convincing. You look like shit," Ajax hummed happily.

"Thanks," She replied dryly as she rolled her eyes.

Moments later, the sound of the metal door opening made them all tense, their minds on the task of what Aila needed to do in the evening.

"You've got this," Finn gave her a little nudge.

She smiled nervously in return but inhaled deeply and composed herself. She kept her nerves at bay as she watched Connor saunter his way towards them with a smug smile on his face that she just wanted to slap. Slowly, she crawled on her hands and knees to the cell door and pulled herself up using the bars, hissing as she did so and immediately let her hands go once she stopped swaying on her feet.

"Ready for round two already?" Connor cracked his knuckles as he got closer to her.

"Please. I need to see Silas," Aila said in a small voice, her eyes downcast as she wobbled slightly on her feet in front of him. The bars between them her only comfort.

He scoffed, "You are making requests now? Looks like I need to teach you another lesson."

He rolled his sleeves up and brought the keys out of his back pocket to unlock the door. Aila cowered,

"NO! Please! Please! I am begging you. Please don't. I want to agree to the deal Silas offered me yesterday."

Silence fell down on them like a veil; Aila glanced up to see Connor staring at her with narrowed eyes. She glanced back down and lowered her head further,

"Please," She whispered. When she looked back up, tears were formed in her eyes; one escaped and fell down her cheek.

Connor stared at her, his eyes hard and cold; he pulled his phone out and dialled a number. He continued to stare at her while the phone was against his ear; his gaze pierced through her, making her hands clammy. Aila moved her own gaze to his nose; she did not want to keep looking into his soulless eyes. It sent shivers down her spine.

"Boss, the bitch wants to agree to the deal you made with her," Connor spoke into the phone.

"Yep. Do you want me to send her to you.." His lips set into a thin line as he listened to the other end of the conversation. Sighing, he put his phone away.

"Bring your arms forwards," He grunted.

The silver chains were once again around her wrists and ankles. He hauled her forwards as soon as the cell door was closed, and they were walking again. Aila put effort into stumbling over, even after she would fall from Connor dragging the chains roughly. An annoyed expression replaced the almost continuous smirk on his face; he stopped yanking on the chains as she needed no more assistance in falling onto the floor.

By the time they made it past the stairs and the metal door, Connor made a phone call, and Chase appeared once they turned a corner.

"Take it!" That was all Connor said as he threw the chain at him and abruptly left.

Chase looked at her grimly and began removing her chains.

"I'm sorry," He whispered after he finished, his head hung in shame. Aila was not angry with him; he was, after all, one of her kidnappers.

Without responding, she continued down the hallway, past the toilets and control room to the final destination of the luxurious room. Once she hobbled through the door, she fell back onto the bed.

"This could have been avoided if you just agreed in the first place," Chase grumbled.

"Hmm, did you get into a lot of trouble?" She inquired.

When there was no answer, she looked up at him. He stood across from her in the room, his arms crossed against his chest. His eyes scanned the room as he replied,

"Nothing I couldn't handle." His chin lifted up, indicating he was done with the conversation.

"Do we have Webflix?" Aila asked; her subtle way of changing the subject made him chuckle.

"Course we do."

For the rest of the day, the pair watched film after film on Webflix and ordered themselves a pizza, which Aila could not finish. Days on a rice only diet caused her appetite to reduce, and she could only manage two slices. But she enjoyed every part of those two slices. Aila and Chase became so comfortable with one another that they shared the bed, legs sprawled out in front of them, backs leaning against the headboard by the second film.

However, once the light through the window started to fade, Aila began to feel nervous again. She walked to the window and looked at the building's surroundings, she couldn't see the hunters that trained, unlike the office she previously went to, but she presumed they were packing up after a day full of practising to kill anything non-human.

"Do you normally train with the others?" She questioned, looking behind her shoulder at Chase, who was now stretching on the carpet. His legs were straight in front of him as his hands reached past his feet.

"Sometimes."

She nodded her head, "Do they all stay here?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, the parking lot is empty. There are no cars. We look to be in the middle of nowhere.." She turned around and faced him, arms crossed against her chest.

"You are awfully observant," He eyed her suspiciously, making her hands go clammy, yet her face stayed composed.

"They don't stay in this building. There's another building round the back you can't see."

"Cool! So like a proper army base then! Must suck for you, though?" She nonchalantly brushed his suspicions to the side. Her overexaggerated smile made him look at her in puzzlement.

"Why do you say that?" He asked slowly.

"Did you not grow up here?"

"Only since I was fourteen.."

Aila zoned out on the rest of what he said; she held back a small smile after steering his suspicions into a light-hearted conversation. She internally scolded herself after becoming too comfortable with him again. Soon, very soon, she would not see him again. They chatted randomly about their childhoods and their likes and dislikes for the next few hours.

When the alarm clock on the bedside table hit 7:45 pm, Aila started to pace, their plan did not include Chase, and she began to panic about what to do with him.

"I never asked, but what will you do when I go to sleep?" She inquired; her voice was slightly high pitched.

Calm down, Aila. Jeese.

"Lock your door and go to my own bedroom."

She nodded her head. Asking him to leave so she could 'sleep' was definitely out of the question. Chase suddenly got up and started to make his way to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?"

He stopped mid-stride and looked at her,

"Going to the toilet?" He tilted his head at her, "Is that okay?"

"No. No, it isn't. I wanted to have a shower, and I don't feel comfortable with you going to the toilet in there." She held her head high as she looked at him with a snooty expression.

He laughed, then shock masked his features when he saw how serious she was,

"Are you serious!?" When she continued to stare at him, he shook his head, "The men's toilets are on the other side of the building!"

"If you are busting, I suggest you leave now."

He looked at her incredulously but dashed out of the door anyway. Aila sighed; her quick thinking got him out of the door, and luckily, he did not lock it. However, her moment of satisfaction was brief as the tension in her chest tightened after glancing back at the clock.

7:48 pm

Shit.

Although she told the guys she knew how to fight, she was not about to waste any time on anybody that would get in her way. She grabbed the side lamp placed on the bedside table before opening her door gently. Her head popped outside the room as she glanced from side to side, her breath was slow and steady, but her heart pounded in her chest and only increased more as she creeped out of the door, lamp in hand.

Her footsteps were light on the floorboards, but she stopped and held her breath every time her foot stepped on a creaky one. The sound was so loud to her ears that she thought even the men in the basement could hear it. However, the seconds passed by, and nobody came out of a door to grab her. Sighing, she continued down the hall. She gulped when she saw the door with the sign that read 'Control Room'. Taking a long deep breath in, she brought her hand to the doorknob.

Turning it around slowly, she slid the door open and froze, eyes wide open when the door screeched on its hinges. Aila jumped inside once she saw it was empty and immediately closed the door. She almost cried in relief, but she snapped out of it; her luck may only last so long. Placing the lamp down on the side, she leaned in and glanced at all the buttons and lights blinking on and off.

First thing's first, the air ducts.

She found the switch instantly and turned it off. Her eyes darted across the various controls and buttons, she hoped to see labels on each of them, but all she saw were numbers by the side of them. Glancing at one of the CCTV screens, she noticed the time was 7:55 pm. She grabbed the sides of her face as panic began to set in.

Time was running out. Her main priority now was to open that metal door for the guys. If she couldn't do that, then it would have all been for nothing. She mentally slapped herself again. That was loser's talk.

Calming herself down, she slowed her breathing and let her eyes glide across the buttons and dials in front of her. Her eyes landed on a switch that read NF00 next to it on the far right. She remembered seeing it on the corner of the metal door on one of her many trips to the bathroom.

BINGO.

She flipped the switch.

BANG.

Aila jumped at the sudden loud noise and turned around wide-eyed.

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