Emma remained squatting and tried to think of a way of getting that girl out of there. She tried to think of a way out but all that came up were problems.
1. She didn’t know how many vampires were there.
2. She didn’t know how fast and strong they were.
3. She had no idea how they would get out of their if they had to outrun the vampires
4. The girl had barely developed which meant that her supernatural powers were quite week. She looked 14 or 15 and that was a very early developmental stage for most werewolves. The fact that she couldn’t break out of the ropes holding her was a sign of the little strength she had.
Emma stood up again and looked at the girl. She moved her mouth to show ‘how many’ before lifting her hand. She raised one finger and the girl shook her head. Emma raised two and the girl nodded. Emma went back down and started thinking. So, one of the vampires was in the tent while the other had gone off to the woods, probably to ease himself.
Emma opened her bag and retrieved the knife she had bought at the grocery store. She started moving closer to the campsite, making sure to hide herself. When nobody came out of the tents, she went towards the girl and quickly cut the ropes used to tie her. Emma was relieved when she managed to cut the ropes before anybody came. The girl pulled away the gag and Emma signalled to her to remain silent. The girl obeyed and Emma dragged her to the tent. They found the vampire sleeping but he woke up immediately. Emma was fast. She stabbed him before he could get up and the small girl hit his head with a bat that was in the tent. He passed out almost immediately. This one was an older, middle aged man. Emma took the girl back outside and quickly tied her up loosely before hiding behind a nearby tree.
About a minute later, the younger vampire returned. He seemed to realise something was off so he ran towards the tent. Emma sprang to action and intercepted him. They started fighting. He looked young but he was way stronger than Emma. He started strangling her and she was about to pass out when the young girl hit his head with the bat she had hidden. The man fell down and the young woman continued to hit his head.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Emma asked, not liking the gruesome nature of the murder. She had had to kill some adversaries over the years but not in that kind of way.
“He raped me,” the girl said and continued to hit the teenager mercilessly.
“Kill him,” Emma said. “But are you sure you want to do it this way?”
The girl nodded and continued her assault. Emma noticed that she had a lot of anger. Emma feared that the moment would haunt the girl in the future but she had already been through something more traumatic. The girl’s innocence had been taKen, and now knew how harsh the world could get. It was sad that happened to her at a very early age.
Rape was an unforgivable sin in her eyes. To do that to a young, defenceless girl was the most despicable thing anyone could do. Because she didn’t want to see the mess, Emma turned and looked away. The girl stopped and covered the battered head with a cloth.
“I’m done,” the girl said to Emma. “You can turn now.”
Emma turned and went to hug the girl who broke down and started sobbing. Emma let her cry on her shoulder for a while before letting her go. “We need to leave this place. Do you know the way home?”
The girl nodded. Emma ran to grab her bag and went into the tent, picking up anything she thought would be useful. The girl went to the other tent and retrieved her stuff which had been confiscated when she got kidnapped. Soon, they were running away from the campsite. They crossed the road and entered and continued running under the shade of the leaves. They didn’t stop until it was dark.
After resting for half an hour, they started moving, this time slower. The girl suggested that they walk closer to the main road. Soon, they reached a small town. They went deeper into the forest and crossed the town area before coming out again. It was fully dark now. If not for their werewolf eyes, they wouldn’t have been able to see anything. The girl’s vision was not very clear so Emma guided her. Emma was glad she had decided to the girl from those monsters. She hoped the girl would be able to move on and live a normal life after the trauma she had just gone through.
“That’s our pack house,” Katya said as a large house came into view. There were pole with lights around it. The bulbs looked like bright stars in the night sky. She stopped moving, and Emma did as well.
“What is it? Aren’t you excited to be back home?”
“It’s not the same anymore,” the young girl said, sitting on the cold grass. “I’m not the same person anymore. I don’t know if I can go back.”
Emma went and placed her bag next to the girls. She sat on it. “Of course you can. You’re still the same person. There’s nothing for you to feel ashamed about. Those men are the ones who deserve to be ashamed for what they did to you.”
“I can’t go in there and pretend that everything is okay.”
“You don’t have to pretend. You have been through something very traumatic and you need some time to recover. None of this is okay. You didn’t deserve this.”
“But I did,” she said. “I disobeyed Lucius. I didn’t listen to him when he said I shouldn’t go out by myself. I-
“All of us have been your age. We made a mistakes but that doesn’t mean we deserved what you went through. Stand up, Katya. We’re going home.”
It took a lot of convincing but Katya finally agreed to go home after making Emma promise not to tell anyone about some of the things that had happened. Katya was hesitant to go through the gate but Emma was able to ensure she got in. A little girl who had been playing on the well-lit porch came running towards them.
“Katya is back!” she yelled.
Five people appeared at the door way immediately. An older woman rushed to Katya and hugged her tight.
“Mama,” the girl said.
Emma felt chills.
“Katya Bradford.”
Emma looked up at the sound and saw the most handsome man she had ever seen. Her lips parted as her eyes met his. He turned away immediately.
“Katya,” he repeated with more authority.
Katya’s mother stepped aside. The air seemed to have changed. Katya bowed.
Who was this man?