A Castle of Sand(55)

Upon my return to The Catacombs, I met with Gavin, Ian and the rest of those who were planning a revolt.
“The culling is tomorrow,” I announced. “During the unexpected events that occurred at the town square, they murdered four of my friends here at The Catacombs. Tomorrow, they plan to murder more people.”
“Let’s get straight to the point, Red.” Ian stood to his full height—standing at least half a foot taller than me. Even with his lanky build, he was a rather intimidating sight, considering the fury blazing in his eyes. “Is your prince going to help us stop the culling?”
I shook my head. “He’s unconscious. We’re on our own on this one.”
“We can’t just let this happen…” Gavin sat up straight in his chair. “There’s got to be something we can do.”
It was perhaps the anger I felt over what they did to my friends, over every atrocity that I’d seen happen at The Shade. It was perhaps the righteous indignation I felt over losing Ben and Gwen and Paige and those three young innocents taken from their homes just like I was to become slaves at The Shade. At that moment, however, I didn’t care if I lived or died. I wasn’t just going to stand back and let them drag the weak and defenseless to their deaths. Not while I was there, not when there were thousands of human beings in The Catacombs capable of fighting back.
I knew that blood was going to be shed. I was also very much aware that the blood could most likely be mine, but I really didn’t care anymore. I was tired of running, tired of being afraid. If I was the girl who was going to help Derek fulfill the prophecy, then I was going to do it fighting for what I believed in and hoping that he would someday find it in his heart to forgive me.
At that point, I realized that my return to The Shade wasn’t just about Derek and me anymore. It couldn’t be. If I was going to be of any use to him, I couldn’t remain a love-struck teenager pining over him. I had to come into my own.
Looking into the hopeful and passionate eyes of the people surrounding me, I knew what had to happen. “We are going to do something.” I nodded resolutely. “We’re going to fight back.”

CHAPTER 32: BEN
 We were on a private plane. Fly, the resident pilot of the hunters, lifted us into the air. We’d just finished another mission. Haunted by the new batch of lives I’d just claimed, I was quiet during our whole trip back to headquarters. It was easier to kill that night. At least I was certain that the ones I had killed had blood on their hands, since I just saw them sucking the life out of a couple of beautiful young girls taken from a human trafficking ring.
In particular, it was these girls that were bothering me, reminding me of the many young men and women that’d been abducted and brought to The Shade.
“What’s going on with you, Ben? You seem so out of it these days…”   Zinnia sounded annoyed as she plopped herself down on the seat beside mine. She had a bottle of champagne in her hands and she looked ready to celebrate.
I inwardly groaned. “Seriously? Champagne?”
“Don’t we have reason to celebrate?”
“We just saw a bunch of young women get murdered by vampires, who we then murdered. Death is not something we ought to celebrate, Zinnia.”
Her eyes widened. “Gosh…so touchy…fine…no champagne then…” She was silent for a good fifteen minutes before she eventually blurted out, “What is wrong, Ben?”
“I think I want out…” I finally confessed. It just came out of my lips before I could stop it.
Zinnia’s brow rose. “Just like that? You just want to quit being a hunter? After all the work you’ve put into becoming one, after…”
“I became a hunter to find The Shade, exact revenge on the insane vampire bitch who ruined my life and try and get Sofia back. So far, there has been absolutely no progress in finding the island.”
“These things take time, Ben…you can’t just up and quit so soon. Give it time.”
“It’s not just that…” I clutched the armrests of the first class leather recliner I was seated on as I began to shake my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Kill…devote my life to just killing vampires…it’s not like I thought it would be.”
Zinnia stared at me. I knew she was trying to understand what I was saying, but I doubted she ever would. “Have you talked to Reuben about this?”
“Of course not.”
“You’re too much of an asset to the hunters, Ben. I don’t think he’s going to be thrilled about you leaving…are you sure this is what you want?”