Reckless

Reckless - Chapter Twenty

I would’ve got to sleep just as easily as them if my phone hadn’t suddenly chimed. It did, though. So I found myself scrambling about the floor to find the ringing device just to shut it up.

My hand enclosed around my phone and I held it in front of me. The bright light from the screen hit my eyes and made me squint when the screen flashed on. It had thankfully stopped ringing, though, and I was left to look at the message in peace. It was from an unknown number.

‘Shouldn’t you get changed before you go to sleep? Jeans are pretty uncomfortable to sleep in.’

I leapt off the bed, gripping the phone tightly. “What the hell?” I muttered under my breath.

I made my way to the window and peered out, but the grubby glass distorted my vision and only showed dark, smudgy shapes. Instead I slid it open and stuck my head out, looking around frantically.

“That wasn’t very clever,” a deep voice said from below me.

I jumped, hitting my head on the window pain.

“Hunter?” I hissed, rubbing the sore spot. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“We’re keeping an eye out for you. Mort thought it was best that we watch your dorm for a few nights, till the threat of Chris has toned down a bit,” another voice told me.

“Alex?”

“The very same.”

I squinted down into the darkness and could just about see two dark shapes sitting on the fire escape, looking up at me.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t appreciate this or anything, but I think I can take care of myself,” I growled insincerely.

Hunter snorted. “Yeah, because you’ve been doing such a good job at it recently.”

“I managed to save Sam.”

“By a fluke,” he dismissed.

“Where were you when it was happening, then? I didn’t see much of your group when I was fighting the supernaturals.”

“Fighting? I’d say it was more of you running blindly round the woods.”

I gritted my teeth together. “I managed to knock Chris out, didn’t I? I managed to get out practically unscathed, even though I was surrounded by three vampires, a werewolf, a shape shifter and a fire elemental.”

Hunter paused. “So you were the reason Chris didn’t appear that night?” he said, a hint of approval in his tone. “You knocked him out?”

“Yes,” I said curtly. “I did.”

He burst into laughter. “I’ve got to hand it to you. That was brilliant. Chris was beaten… by a girl… by you…”

“And that’s supposed to mean?” I demanded.

 “You’ve had no past experience of these things. You’re incapable of fighting the supernatural, yet you managed to beat Chris.” I could see Hunter shrug in the darkness. “That’s impressive. I wouldn’t have expected it from you.”

“What were you expecting? For me to run away, screaming, and call the big, scary vampire hunters to do the job for me?

“Pretty much, yeah. That’s what usually happens in these situations.”

“Then I pity those girls you usually meet.”

We went silent. “Why didn’t you stake him?” Alex asked quietly, not having spoken till then.