Chapter 15: The Hunter

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 15: The Hunter

Ella climbed to the top of the bell tower, and looked down at the square before. That man, the Hunter was there. They didn't know his name, but shortly after they lost Tiller, this guy had been stalking them. HE was the one they had been hiding from for so long, and Ella had thought that they had lost him for good, that he had given up.

Now he was standing by the well, looking down into the water. He was looking for them again Or maybe he had never stopped, and had just caught their tracks again.

“Damnit.” she muttered. She though she saw him stiffen, and he turned slightly. Though he was looking at the ground, she still slid into the shadows, her heart pounding wildly. She could almost feel his eyes on her, staring up past the stone pillar and right at her back. She shivered, and waited. After a few moment she could actually hear him, the click clicking of his shoes on the cobblestones in the square below echoing up to her in the silence of the very early morning. She listened until the sound faded into the grey of the morning, and then slumped to the floor

'How the hell is he back?' she thought. 'Lissa couldn't have drawn that much attention to herself, or me.' she sat very still for a long moment, watching the sky slowly lighten.

'I need to tell the others' She thought. She carefully counted off people in her head. 'I need to get to everyone else, and I need to tell them that he's back, that I have Lissa, that...'

She got up slowly, and looked back down into the empty square. ' the damned pendent' she thought, ' what the hell do I do with that.'

She sighed and turned around, and started making her way back down into garrison below. The Damned thing hadn't been used in a long time, and was hers now, so long as she was careful. It was home.

'what do I know' She thought to herself. 'I know that Lissa is here. She has the pendent. The Hunter is here as well. He wants the pendant... But likely doesn't know that Lissa has it.' She sighed. “Damnit” She muttered again. She got to a landing down about halfway through the bell tower, kneeled down, and gently brushed her hand over the wooden floor until she felt the leather strap that opened the trap door. She pulled the strap, and a bare room with a single table with one lantern on it opened out beneath her. She jumped down, landing almost silently on the balls of her feet. She quickly took the lantern, and blew it out.

'Part of me wants to just let her keep it.' she thought. 'no one knows she has it... anyway.' It took her only a moment of thought before she decided. 'that's what I'll do. I'll let her keep it, and get her out of here. I'm sure she won't mind. I can sent her to the islands or something.'

She walked around to the back, and started to unlock. 'So. I'll get her set up tomorrow. I'll give her some money, and get her to Teans and put her on a ship. Maybe I could suggest she throws the damned thing out to sea when she's far enough.'

She gave a small smile. Even when things were hard, she was fine if she knew what she was doing. So long as she had an idea of what had to be done, and what could be done, then she didn't have to worry about much.

She opened the door, and standing on the other side was Hunter, his burned and deformed face staring back at her. She yelped and walked back to the table.

“Hello Ella.” He said in his grating, scratchy voice. “Trying to hide form me?”

She moved fast. She grabbed the lantern off from the table, and threw it at him. The light was off, of course. He moved out of the way, and it shattered against the wall, splashing everywhere. He moved quickly towards her, caught her by the throat, and squeezed gently.

“Careless?” He croaked. “You pulled a little too much attention to yourself tonight, Ella.” He squeezed a little tighter. “There were seven people there that night, including your leader. There's only three left.” He squeezed tighter. “Yourself, Adex, and Lysans.”

Ella have a quiet squeak which would have been a gasp if she could breath properly. Hunter chuckled.

“The others have been taken care of.” He hissed. “From you, all I want is the location of the other two. You do that, and I might not have to kill you slowly. I might not hunt down everyone you ever knew or cared about.”

Ella mouthed something, but he couldn't see properly what she was trying to say in the darkness. He loosened her grip on her neck until he heard a strained gasp for air.

“Say that again?”

She gave a low chuckle. “Idiot.” He brought her knee up, and kneed him between the legs. He fell to the ground, and without taunting him or throwing another kick, Ella took off. Jumping over him and running out into the square. She dodged into an alley, and ran until she came to a plain looking door. She pulled the handle, but rather then pull the door out, she pushed it to the side, and slipped into the darkness. The door slid shut behing her.

Moments later, Hunter pulled himself up, and ran to the door. He couldn't' see anything in the courtyard, no sign of Ella. He leaned agains the cold stone wall of the garrison. It was ok though. After so many years, he had at last found her again. Knew where she was, and knew one of her “secret entrances” into the city. One of the last ones, he hoped.

“This will all be over soon..” he muttered.