chapter 2: Captured

Marissa squinted her eyes as she tried to see in the midst of the chaos. People were running every where and some where tripping over each other.

There were some people lying on the ground wounded. Pieces of dirts and dust flew everywhere and her ears were ringing. She staggered to her feet as she looked for Jade.

“ Jade! Jade! Where are you?” shouted Marissa as she searched for Jade. She found Jade few meters away, her limbs were twisted in an awkward angle.

“Jade!” she shouted her name as she ran to where she was.

Marissa knelt down and put her head on her chest to check for a heartbeat but there was non.

“ No, no, no, no, please wake up, please, don't leave me” cried Marissa as she held her friend’s face but there was no response.

Marissa looked around to make sure that there was no one close by then she held Jade's hand and closed her eyes.

All she could see was darknes then she envisioned a strand of light curling itself around the darkness and soon, strands of light appear and interwined themselves into each other, then a bright light shot out of the hand holding Jade's hand.

Jade gasped and opened her eyes then closed them again. Marissa smiled weakly at her friend before passing out beside her.

****

Kasha twirled the knife in her hand and smirked evilly as she stared at the girl on her knees in front of her. Her body was covered in knife wounds and was bleeding profusely.

The floor was covered with blood. Kasha threw the knife that she was holding and it impaled the girl on her shoulder but there was no sound from her.

“You almost blew our cover. How could you cause an explosion in a human town and that too with lots of humans around?” asked Kasha angrily but the girl remained silent.

The explosion that almost killed Jade was caused by her. They were in town looking for witches when they saw Marissa and Jade.

They sensed that one of them was a witch but they did not know who among them was so they planned to ambush them.

She threw the explosive to distract everyone so that they could quickly grab the two girls but that was not their original plan thus jeopardising the mission.

“ You jeopardised our mission. It was obvious one of the girls was a witch. What if you had accidentally killed them? you should have stuck to the plan” continued Kasha.

She was radiating so much dark energy that it was suffocating.

“Please Kasha, she won't repeat such mistake again” pleaded a male standing at the corner. His name was Vincent. Kasha glared at him angrily.

“ Do not plead for her. She jeopardised the mission. How are we going to explain to his majesty that we found a witch and we lost her?” asked Kasha.There was no way they could kidnap any of the girls.

The place was filled with people. She had told them to retreat and wait for the right time to ambush the girls.

Kasha gritted her teeth angrily as she stood up and walked out of the room. The girl collapsed immediately Kasha walked out of the room. Vincent ran to her.

“ Hey Millicent, wake up” said Vincent as he cradled her head on his lap. Millicent groaned before her eyes fluttered opened.

“It…hurts” groaned Millicent. The knife that was used on her was laced with holy water which was particularly deadly to demons.

Vincent gritted his teeth in annoyance. How could Kasha do that to her? It takes time for injuries gotten from holy water to heal. Sometimes, some never do.

“ It's okay. Let me take you to the healer” he said as he lifted her up and walked out of the room.

****

Marissa groaned as she opened her eyes. Her body ached and she could feel a headache coming.

“You are awake. How are you feeling?” asked Jade.

She was sitting on a chair close to the bed. Marissa coughed as she tried to talk. Her throat was dried and patched. Jade poured a glass of water and handed it to her.

“ Thanks” said Marissa as she gulped the water. Jade took the cup from her and set it on the night stand.

“ Let me call the nurse” said Jade as she pressed a button by Marissa's bed side. Few minutes later, a nurse and a doctor walked in and started checking Marissa.

“ Any pain, general weakness?” asked the doctor.

“ No” replied Marissa.

“ Everything is fine. You will be observed few a hours before discharge. Make sure to always stay hydrated” said the doctor before walking out of the room with the nurse following behind. Jade sat on the chair and took her hands.

“ I am happy you are safe but what happened?. I mean what triggered that explosion” asked Jade puzzled.

“ I don't know. The police is probably looking into it” replied Marissa.

“ And I don't know how I survived. I was literally in the air. I thought I was done for. There was no way anybody would have survived that” said Jade.

“ Maybe you were just lucky” said Marissa hoping that Jade will not continue the conversation.

“ Before the explosion, you said we were being followed. We can't be the target right?” asked Jade. Marissa laughed at her friend.

“ You were the one that told me that I watch too many crime dramas and now look at you” said Marissa.

“ Hey don't laugh at me. I was just wondering” said Jade defensively.

“ There is no way that the explosion was meant for us” said Marissa.

Jade sighed.

“ Yeah you are right. I was just thinking too far. You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat” said Jade as she went out of the room.

Marissa furrowed her brows. It was too concidental. They were definitely following them but how did they know that she was a witch? She had made sure to be careful and not do magic. Jade almost lost her life because of her.

She has to be careful so as not to put her in danger again.

****

Damian looked around as he stepped out of the car accompanied by two of his warriors. Today was the meeting with the other alphas and it was taking place in alpha Israel’s pack.

“ Alpha Oak, welcome to black wood pack” said alpha Israel who was also in the company of his warriors. He was a tall and bulky man with a beard.

“ Thank you” said Damian as they shook hands.

“ Let's go inside. The other alphas are waiting” said alpha Israel as he led them inside.

The meeting was taking place in a spacious room with a round table. Two people were sitting at the table. A woman and a man.

Damian smiled as he locked eyes with the woman. Her name was Raya and she was the alpha of the blood moon pack. She was beautiful with soft and delicate features.

She and Damian have been friends since diaper days. She was like the little sister he never had and he was like a brother to her.

Unlike Damian, she has found her mate and has a beautiful three year old daughter.

“ Hey Rays, how are you?” asked Damian as he sat close to her.

“I am good. How is the pack?” she asked him as she smiled at him.

“ The pack is fine” replied Damian.

Damian looked at the other person in the room. His name was alpha Kendrick, alpha of the blue moon pack. He was a quiet person who rarely speaks except it is important. They both exchanged pleasantries.

“ Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting” said alpha Israel. The door opened and helps entered the room with trays of refreshment and set them on the table before leaving. Alpha Israel cleared his throat.

“We already know why we are here so I would like us to get straight to the point. We need to find out who is behind these attacks. So many people have lost their lives already and we can't stay and watch many more loose theirs” said alpha Israel.

“ That is the problem. The attacks are carefully planned and meticulously executed thereby leaving no evidence behind” said alpha Kendrick.

“I think it's time we alert the supernatural council. I mean it is obvious these deaths aren't ordinary and the only targets are wolves and we can't deal with such matters on our own” said alpha Raya.

“ Do you think the witches are responsible for the deaths?” asked Damian.

“It’s possible. I mean they have been persecuted for so long, maybe it's their own way of taking their revenge on us” said alpha Kendrick.

“Then there is no need to involve the supernatural council. Let's deal with them ourselves” said alpha Israel.

“ That is not right. We can't just go and start a war with the witches. It is best we involve the council” said Damian.

He was never a fan of the violence against witches.

“Okay. It is concluded then, we will contact the council to request an audience with them” said alpha Raya.

They all agreed that was the best option. Damian was standing close to his car when alpha Raya came to stand by his side.

“ What's up?” he asked her as he leaned on the car.

“When is the party?” she asked him.

“Three days time” replied Damian. Raya nodded.

“How is my little sunshine?” he asked her. Raya rolled her eyes.

“ Getting mischievous by the day. She misses you” replied Raya.

“ I know. I miss her too. I will find time to come visit” said Damian as he brought out a shopping bag and handed it to her.

“ You know you spoil her too much” said Raya as she took the bag from him.

“ Tell her I love her and I love you. My regards to Zach” said Damian as he kissed her on her cheek before getting into his car.

Zach was Raya’s mate. Raya smiled as she watched the car speed off before getting into her car.

****

Marissa laughed as her older brother Rick scolded her for running.

‘ Mari slow down, you could hurt yourself’ said Rick.

She was running after a butterfly. She laughed as the wind blew her red hair.

The memory was from when she was five and Rick was seven.

Then there was a shift, she found herself sitting in the dinning table with her family as they ate.

Her mother laughed at something her father said then the dream shifted to when their coven was attacked.

‘ Rick, take your sister and hide. Do not look back and do not stop” said her father as he hugged them.

‘We love you. Always remember that’ said their mother as she hugged them.

She was fourteen and Rick was seventeen then. He took her hand and ran out of the house.through the back door.

‘ No mom, dad. We can't leave them!. We have to go back!’ sobbed Marissa.

They stood on a hill top and watched as their coven was burnt to the ground and witches carried away into slavery. Marissa jolted awake.

She looked at her surroundings and realised that she was in the safety of her room.

Only when she felt wetness on her cheek did she realise that she was crying. She missed them. So much. She buried her head on her lap and cried herself to sleep.

****

Kasha walked as she addressed the men standing before her. She was dressed in military attire and so were all the men in front of her.

“ We will be going to haunt witches. The rule is simple, do not kill anyone. You are allowed to hurt them if they show any sign of resistance but do not kill them. Watch out for unmated females with red hair between the ages of nineteen and twenty five years. We fight!” she shouted.

“ We fight for the demon king because we believe in him!!” shouted the men.

“Let's go!” she said to them. They filed into their vehicles and drove off.

****

Damian and the other alphas were ushered into a meeting room and were asked to wait to have an audience with the supernatural council.The council house was big and spacious with beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

“Do you think we will be granted an audience?” asked alpha Raya. She was talking to Damian.

“I hope so. I believe they know it is important that is why we came unannounced and besides, we tried informing them before coming but they refused to see us.” replied Damian.

You need to be summoned by the council inorder to be able to get an audience with them but they came unannounced. Most times, a person will be turned away if they did not have an appointment with the council. The door opened and a young lady came and stood in front of them.

“Come with me” she said to them.

They got up and followed her. She led them into a big hall that was oval in shape. The hall had resembled a court room. There were two males in the room.

“What an unexpected visit alphas” said one of the men. His name was elder Aaron and he was a vampire.

“ We are sorry to come unannounced but we need your help” said alpha Kendrick.

“ We already know why you are here” said elder Aaron.

“Since you already know, tell us who is responsible for the deaths and how we can stop them” said Damian.

“ Patience alpha Damian. You will get your answer soon” replied the second elder. His name was elder Maurice and he was a werewolf.

“ That is one thing we don't have elder Maurice. Our people are dying. The packs are scared” said alpha Israel.

“You think the witches are responsible for all that has been happening but they are not” said elder Aaron.

“ If they are not responsible, then who is?” asked alpha Raya.

“A dark lord” replied elder Maurice.

“Who is that? We don't understand” said alpha Israel. Elder Maurice turned to Damian.

“ A war is coming. You need to be strong if you are to come out victorious and this war will bring to light your true friends and your foe but fear not, your mate will be there to help you through it all” said elder Maurice.

Everyone apart from the two elders were stunned at the revelation.

“ So, how do we defeat him? Whoever this dark lord maybe?” asked alpha Raya.

“It all depends on alpha Damian’s mate. If she is willing to stay and fight by his side” replied elder Aaron. Everyone turned and looked at Damian.

“ What has defeating the dark lord got to do with me and my mate and what do you mean if she is willing to stay and fight with me?” asked Damian but the elders have already left the room.

“ It's okay. We will get to the bottom of this” said alpha Raya as she tapped him on his back.

****

Marissa looked over her shoulder as she drew her jacket tighter over her body. It was late and she just closed from her night shift. She could not shake the feeling of being watched and followed as she walked. She turned and saw two men following her.

She started walking faster and the men started walking faster too. She panicked and broke into a run. The men also started running.

She bent into a corner then she hit something solid. She looked up and saw a man grinning at her evily.

She was about to scream when a hand was clamped over her mouth.

A cloth was put over her face and the last thing she heard was .

“ She is a pretty one. We will get paid double” said a male voice before she lost consciousness.