Hanna

One: Hanna

"Do you even know what they did to me?"

The voice is faint, as if coming from the end of a tunnel. But, somehow, it also feels close. Like the embodiment of the voice is right next to me, waiting for me to answer.

I don't have words. I don't have sight. I'm nowhere. I'm nothing.

"Those bastards treated me like I was scum. For years, they abused me. Used me as their pack-mule. I was their errand boy."

Am I alive?

Am I okay?

What do I remember? Do I have any memories at all?

"You don't even know the worst part, do you?"

Silence. Then an echo: "Do you?!"

What...what is this?

"I grew to be the monster they created, the omega turned into a sigma. I showed them what I could do. I created an alliance with a rogue who could destroy them all. His father. Your mate."

My...my what?

"But that little b***h found a loophole. She didn't submit to him. Hell, she technically outranked him. And there went my shot at destroying my pack. I would have pulled them together again, under my rule. I would've made them submit to me, like I had to submit to them all those miserable years."

A breath fans across my face before I can make out a whisper that says, "That didn't work out. And now we're here. But...where is he?"

I think I can feel my face now. My lips try to move, try to press together to form words. My body begins to tingle, begins to rush with blood. The numbness I had felt now fades away.

"Where is Leon?"

I jolt.

I peel my eyes open.

Before me stands a lanky, dark-haired boy. Just a boy. But...he's different from the last time I saw him.

Kol, I remember through the fog in my brain.

His eyes are ringed with black. His hair is in disarray. He stinks.

But he's bigger. More muscular. Even taller.

The muscles in my shoulders are stiff as I try to move my wrists. But they're stuck, bound uncomfortably behind me. I'm on the floor, lying on my side. My ankles are bound as well. s**t.

Where am I? And how did this happen?

Something sticks to the side of my face. It itches. A dried liquid of some sort.

My mouth...God, my mouth is so dry. I'm so thirsty. And dizzy. And...so,so weak.

All signs of being drugged. But...my thoughts are stringing together coherently, so that must mean it's wearing off.

Kol smirks as he watches me process where I am, how I feel. He seems delighted.

"You are exactly what I needed to make them pay. I realized that the moment I first saw you." He straightens, and begins walking away, his hands behind his back. "But, of course, you got the jump on me. And that was before I made the switch to rogue."

I take in my surroundings. We're in a dark room, a basement perhaps. I assume so since there are small windows lining the ceiling, and stairs in the far corner of the room. But, the windows have newspapers covering them, only allowing dimmed light to shine through.

I wonder if I'm still in Delgany.

I wonder if anyone has noticed I'm gone.

They have to. By now, they have to.

Who was the last person I spoke to? What did I say? Will they be the one to figure it out? That I'm not where I'm supposed to be.

"I thought I'd send you a message with that injury...the one Leon had to heal for you. I admit, it was a little impulsive. And it held little consequence. But...why not, right?"

Wait a damn minute..."You're the rogue that tried to kill me?"

He narrows his eyes at me. "For a hunter, you're a little dense. I was expecting a little more...intelligence."

I'm drugged, you bastard. I apologize for not being as sharp as I usually am.

"Of course not," he continues. "I had someone else do my dirty work. I knew Leon would scent me the moment I was within miles of the territory you shared. I wanted to give Leon a taste of what was to come. And I wanted to get back at you for what you did to me."

So the pack...the tracks we had found just outside the estate...he runs with them. But...

"When did you...do this to yourself? When we found you, you were just a kid."

He glares at me, crouching to my level slowly. He looks soulless, dead inside.

Tremours rock through me, and I'm thrown back to the memory of him cornering me after my argument with Cullen.

Oh...Cullen. Please, please forgive me.

"When they rejected me, when they all laughed at the prospect of you using me as leverage for p*****t, I was alone once again. I had traveled across the world to find them, had been too weak to make the change before seeing them again, somehow holding out hope to...make amends. f*****g pathetic of me, I know. But when I knew there was no other way, I scented the rogues that were already in the area, lucky for me, and I committed myself to this. And suddenly, I wasn't that weak little omega anymore. I had no fear, I would submit to no one. And I gained an alliance with the rogues that wanted to see you and your hunters dead. I convinced them to add my old pack to their list, and they agreed. They didn't need much convincing. Your hunters and the wolves seemed to be building an alliance anyway, one that could threaten us. They have no problem helping me get my revenge."

I'm shaking now. Trembling violently in my place on the floor. The chains binding my wrists and ankles begin clinking against the hard ground. I think I may throw up.

He grins, a full smile now. It's twisted. It's all wrong. It's terrifying.

"They won't come for me. You're wasting your efforts on me," I whisper hoarsely, as fiercely as possible between chattering teeth. That is...if they're still alive. They have to be. My team and Leon's pack...they're stronger than this.

At this, he laughs. It's a hearty laugh, a genuine one. He finds this funny.

He looks down at me again, eyes gleaming. "Like I said in that clearing, I thought hunters were supposed to be smart."

He gives me one last glance as tears start to fall from the corners of my eyes. Never have I looked so weak in front of an enemy, I'm sure. He stands, pivots, and makes his way towards the stairs. I realize now that the sticky feeling on the side of my head is dried blood, and my wound is still gaping. It begins to bleed again, down my face and across the floor.

I'm so f****d.