Red Roses - (FCRAs 2016 Winner)

Better The Devil You Know

Lorelie woke up face down in the dirt; her hands and feet bound painfully tight, her fingers already numb from the reduced blood flow. Her head was pounding, her heart was pounding and her throat was raw and scratching from that awful chemical she'd breathed in.

She shifted, looking to her left and movement nearby made her freeze.

"Are you finally awake, Miss May?" asked her attacker and a hand clamped onto her back of her head and wrenched her up to a sitting position, her head forced back so she could get a good look at the man in front of her and he could get a good look at her sneering glare she was forcing onto her face to hide her racing heart, trembling hands and overall terror. "I see you're awake. Do you remember me?"

"I remember you," Lorelie muttered bitterly.

"And my name?"

"You weren't that important for me to recall that," Lorelie replied and the man chuckled, releasing her hair and walked away. She glanced around quickly while his back was turned and saw she was in a camp. She didn't recognise the clearing but it was large enough to hold at least seven tents.

A stool slammed down in front of her, making her jump and she looked up as her captor took a seat, looking down at her.

"So," he said, "What was my name?"

"I said I didn't recall, it was a very brief meeting," she said and he just smiled because he knew she was lying.

And she was. She knew exactly who she was looking at.

He held a hand out to her, like he expected her to shake it. "Sullivan, to jog your memories," he said, "Leon's mentor."

"What are you doing?" Lorelie growled in reply, trying to twist her arms free.

"I believe I'm sitting in the middle of the woods talking to a girl I kidnapped in a most genteel manner, considering who she is," Sullivan said in an off-hand tone.

"I meant what are you doing attacking me? What is the matter with you?!"

"I'm doing my job," Sullivan said gently.

"What?"

"Do you know we are, Lorelie May?" Sullivan said, resting his forearms on his thighs and looking her directly in the eye.

"What?" she muttered, staring at him.

"We are huntsmen, Lorelie. Do you know what we do?"

Lorelie just stared at him.

"We protect those from the evils within the forests. We hunt the darkness, kill it, strip it of its existence and make it so it can never hurt another person."

"I don't understand," Lorelie muttered and Sullivan laughed.

"I don't know what there is to misunderstand, dear," he said, leaning back, "Killing is a very basic concept. The reasoning behind a kill may be complicated, I grant you that, but a physical kill is very basic."

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, her voice starting to tremble.

He smiled at her. "No, dear, as I said – though you may have been too dazed to take note – I need you alive, for now. So I shall not be killing you, for now."

"Why... why me? I thought you were here to kill the wolves?"

"Oh I am, I always have been."

"Is this... is this because of Grey?" Lorelie asked, her voice coming out thin and breathless.