Montana paced the floors of the old house, scratching his face and head. He had to find a way to get June back. Rufus, Alexis, and Daisy all agreed. They couldn’t let Zoran just kidnap her.“Should we split up or stick together?” Daisy asked, trying to get a plan together.“Might as well split up into groups of two. Me and Rufus, you and Alexis. It’s not like us being together would save us if it came down to us or them.” Montana said, feeling the heaviness of his last statement.They all nodded in agreement. The air felt heavy, making it hard for them to breathe.Alexis looked at Daisy. She was still in awe of her beauty. How was she supposed to act normal when she was paired with the most stunning girl she’s ever met?They all set out with their plan clear: split up in groups of two, and return to the house come nightfall.They both went their separate ways. They hadn’t seen which way June and Zoran went so Montana and Rufus went behind the house and Daisy and Alexis went to the lef
Zoran sat at the large dinner table, with June sitting next to him on his left. They ate in silence, with the only sound being June picking around at her food.“Eat. You need the energy.” He said, motioning to her plate of roast and potatoes.“Don’t tell me what to do.” She snapped, looking up and he caught her eyes with his. She was being drawn in. She could feel that something again. Angry, she snapped her head back down her plate“Bullshit. You’re just depressed. You need to eat.” He said, knowing she didn’t eat any of her lunch. He couldn’t just let her starve.She glanced her eyes up at him and saw his eyes soften as her eyes filled with tears once again.“I’d like to go back to my room.” Her voice broke at the end, even though she tried her best to hide it.“Would you like me to accompany you?” He quietly offered, setting his fork down.“Do I have a choice?” she said through her teeth as tears began to fall.Zoran sighed and stood.“Well come on then. I will take you to your roo
Montana and Rufus kept walking, hoping they’d find any signs they had gone this way. They stepped over dead logs and avoided holes from animals as they went deeper and deeper into the woods.The air seemed to become a few degrees cooler, and the light a lot dimmer.“We should probably head back.” Rufus stopped walking and waited on Montana to do the same. “We can try again tomorrow.”That stopped Montana in his tracks. He looked at Rufus with a sadness he’d never seen him wear before.“You don’t hear that?” Montana suddenly asked. Rufus focused on his hearing. Sure enough, there were voices. One of which sounded like Zoran.“Sir, I didn’t find them at the house but I didn’t see them in the woods either.”“Well look again! You can’t expect me to believe that they just gave up that quickly. We can’t have them here, now go find them, and don’t come back until you do.” They heard another man scream.“Yes sir. Sorry, sir.” The voice responded followed by silence.“They must be looking for
Montana and Rufus sat in their cells on the small bench, exhausted and starving. They tried to sleep on the floor but were unsuccessful. All they had been brought to eat was some stale bread and warm water.They were granted a few visits from random vampires who came to taunt them, but that was the extent of any interaction.“Why do you think they’re keeping us here?” Rufus called over to Montana, who was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.“I don’t know. To torture us a bit before they kill us like everyone else back at the house?”“But why? They don’t seem like they’d do anything without reason.”“Man, I don’t know. I just want to get out of this damned shed.” Montana aggressively kicked the side of it. Wanting nothing more than to just be free.Silence fell over them both. As much as they wanted out, they were welcomed with the harsh reality that there was no way out.Just as they were about to lie down for the night, they heard the door open.“Oh great.” Montana groan
Zoran helped teach her how to ride a horse, correcting her form and technique and trying to shape her into a perfect rider. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need to use this knowledge often, but it’s useful to know just in case.He took her back inside for breakfast, telling her he had some work today for a couple of hours so she could wait in the library. She agreed, excited to explore a new room and be around new books.After they ate all their eggs, bacon, and pancakes, Zoran had one of his right-hand men lead her to the library while he took off to his office.June was amazed as she walked through the door. She was welcomed by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, packed with more books than she’s ever seen. It had multiple floors, each just like the last, with a large oak desk in the middle of the first floor with a computer and was accompanied by a small woman. The nameplate said, Marge. The entire room was just magnificent.The man led her inside and dropped her off, closing the door behind him
Alexis and Daisy pace outside the house. Rufus and Montana had not come back and the moon was now high overhead. They debated going and looking for them now but they knew the chances of finding them in the dark were slim. They were going to have to wait until morning.“What do you think happened to them?” Daisy was trying to hide her worry but it was starting to slip out.“I don’t know.. I hope they’re okay though.” Alexis was trying to comfort her friend, but she couldn’t help but worry herself.They stayed awake the rest of the night, waiting. Hoping. Praying. But the two never returned.The next day, as soon as the sun started to kiss the trees good morning, they decided to go and try to find them. They started out in the same direction Rufus and Montana had gone, afraid of what they might find.They searched and searched but couldn’t find any sign of their friends.They reached the edge of the forest line and saw the field with hills rolling behind it. They couldn’t see anything o
“I’d like to apologize.” Zoran started, making direct eye contact with June. She just looked at him, unsure how to respond. Was she supposed to just forgive him now?“Why don’t you take a walk with me? It rained last night and the flowers are even prettier than last time.”“Okay..” June got up, preparing herself for the day. She still felt awful about yesterday and really wanted to just curl up in a ball and sleep. But somehow she knew Zoran wasn’t going to allow that to happen.He helped her get ready and then led her down the stairs and outside, walking her through the garden. He was right, it had rained last night and everything looked a lot brighter. There was a rainbow peaking through the clouds and the air was rich with petrichor.They continued to walk through the flowers and trees until he stopped in front of a large walnut tree.“This tree has been around since the mansion was built, which was way back when I was a child.” June could tell the tree brought back good memories.
“Wh-what?” Was all June could get out.“My name is Hunter. Not Zoran.”“Why did you lie about your name? No one gives a shit about what your name is.” June wasn’t mad, just hurt that he waited this long to bring it up.“A lot of talk was going around about me being a bad guy-”“I don’t care! Why’d you wait til now to tell me? I’ve been here for like a week. I’ve slept in your BED. I agreed to be your damned girlfriend! And you never considered that maybe you should mention that you’ve lied about who you are??” She threw open her bedroom doors and grabbed one of the books off her bookshelf.“You can sleep here if you’d-”“No.” She stormed out of her room and headed to Hunter's room, leaving him back in hers.She sat on the bed and laid down, letting her feet hang off the end of the bed. Sighing, she closed her eyes, praying for sleep to just overtake her.Before that could happen, however, Hunter walked through the doors and sat on the bed next to her.“Junebug, can we please talk abou