What did they mean? I knew who I was, didn't I? I was Rosalia Mallory, a girl left on the doorstep of our town's foster agency to find a new home. From there I went through three homes before at the age of 16 instead of having to live in the group h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Hunter's POV:
Shit. That's the one answer I was hoping to avoid. For my sake as much as her's. This is bad. Very, very bad. Catastrophically bad. "No. no, no, no," I whisper, my hands shaking. Suddenly Rosalia's all I can see and my breath hitches with panic. "Not her. Please, by the love of Lucifer, not her," I mumble.
"Hunter?" I've forgotten that I'm not alone in the room and the sound of Ash's voice snaps me out of my panicked state of mind enough to look up. Ash is frowning but Mara and Eris are wearing identical masks of horror and shock. "Eris? Mara? What's going on?"
"It's her," I don't recognise my own voice. It sounds heavy and sad. "She's the one they're looking for." A silence fills the air after I speak and I know Ash is trying to understand my point. "Rosa's the one." The words come out through a choked sob.
"Are - are you sure?" Ash's voice is unsteady and I can hear the desperation in his voice. He's hoping that any second now the three of us will drop the anxious looks and smile, telling him that it's ok. They're after someone else but we can help. That Rosa's going to be ok.
But I can't. Neither can Eris or Mara. Not without lying.
"It's true," Eris affirms after a long pause and I hear Mara give a small muffled sob into her hands. But I'm numb. I can feel the sadness and fear pushing at my emotional and mental barriers but I refuse to let it overwhelm me. Instead adapting Rosa's trick of suppressing it so that I can carry on. "She's the one,"
"Bloody hell," Ash runs a shaky hand through his hair and gives a glance to Rosa. I try to read his eyes for some indication as to his current emotional state but all I can see is the fear I know is in all of our eyes along with a protective instinct which surprises me. Digging deeper I can feel that behind his walls he uses to keep everyone else out she's managed to worm her way into his heart the way a younger sibling might and the thought makes me smile, despite the hellish situation. "What do we do?"
"I don't know," My voice shakes and my control shakes at its foundations as my tortured mind concocts various images of Rosa in pain. Mentally I try to block them out, reminding myself that she can take care of herself, but the images won't desist. I feel like screaming but I manage to hold it in - not wanting to make the situation any worse than it already is by adding hysteria. "But we'll find a way. We - we have to." and there goes my self-control. Knocked down like a house of cards in the wind I feel the fear coursing through my body at lightning speed and I try to reign it in - mindful of where Rosa's still sleeping next to me. Resting with her head on my lap she yelps in pain and her eyes dart from side to side beneath her eyelids. Her breathing hitches and I try to calm her but given my current state of mind, it's almost impossible.
"No, no, NOO!" She screams next to me and shifts restlessly, twisting and turning so fast her hair tangles in a rich brown mess across my lap. "Please no," The shouts soften to whispers that break my heart to hear. "Don't...don't hurt him. Please," Her voice sounds heartbroken and I stroke her hair, knowing full well what nightmare she's trapped in.
