Changed (The Hunters #1) (42 page)

“
Stop talking and just
follow me.”

Rosa kept her mouth shut and moved
into the cold water. When the water was up to her waist, Ellen
stopped. Rosa stood next her. She threw her arms around herself.
Her clothes were soaked completely and she was freezing.

“
W-what do we do now?”
Rosa asked. Her teeth began to chatter. Ellen stood motionless in
the water. It seemed the cold did not bother her.

Ellen raised her right
hand, ignoring Rosa’s question as she began to mumble something
that Rosa did not understand.

She opened her mouth to ask another
question, but then the ground shook under her feet.

It felt like the ground moved and
waves splashed over them. She grabbed Ellen’s arm so as not to lose
her balance and fall into the water.

Then the ground seemed to stop moving,
and the water calmed.

“
What was that?” Rosa
asked Ellen as she let go of her.

“
I have opened the
ground,” was Ellen’s answer. She turned to Rosa. “You have to dive
now.”

“
And what
then?”

“
The water will lead you
to your goal.”

“
Okay,” Rosa said slowly.
“Will you come with me?”

Ellen nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Rosa
moved deeper into the water before she dove. For a few seconds
nothing happened, but then something grabbed her foot and pulled
her down.

The pull dragged Rosa deeper under the
water. She waved her arms, but it didn’t help. Her lungs began to
burn.

The moment when Rosa thought she would
choke, the pull let go of her leg and she fell.

Rosa landed hard on the floor,
stumbled, and fell to the ground. The burning pain increased in her
chest and she moaned. Tears welled in her eyes.

Come on. Get up! Get
up!

No matter how much she forced herself
to stand up, she couldn’t. The pain was too huge.

“
Rosa, you okay?” Ellen
asked her. She hadn’t even noticed that Ellen had
arrived.

“
N-no,” Rosa gasped. “My
ribs hurt. Are broken.”

“
From the
fall?”

Rosa shook her head.

“
Come, turn on your back.”
Ellen turned Rosa slowly onto her back. Rosa moaned in pain and
grimaced.

“
It will be over soon,”
Ellen assured her. Her voice was soft and maternal. She tore at
Rosa’s blouse and put her hands on her chest. Rosa wasn’t able to
ask what Ellen was doing.

Ellen began to mumble something
unintelligible. Cold tingles spread through Rosa’s chest. Slowly,
the pain disappeared.

Rosa realized then what Ellen was
doing—she was healing her.

The tingling disappeared and with it
the pain. Ellen opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

“
You didn’t have to do
that,” said Rosa, still lying on the ground.

Ellen looked at her then she bent
down. She raised her hand, placing it on Rosa’s injured eyes,
healing her.

“
I cannot heal much more,”
said Ellen. “My healing powers aren’t very strong.”

It felt good to be able to see with
both eyes.

Rosa rose up. “Thank you,” she
said.

Ellen nodded and stood up.

Cold water ran in small streams over
her back as her wet hair stuck to her face. Her sopping wet clothes
felt like they weighed a ton.

Rosa looked around. They stood in a
hollowed-out hole that, oddly, wasn’t dark. The end of the hall,
however, was plunged into darkness.

“
Where are we?” Rosa
asked. It was cold—so cold that her breath hung like a white cloud
in the air.

“
Under the earth, of
course,” Ellen replied.

“
This is where we’re going
to find the talisman?”

Ellen nodded. “Yes.”

They started down the hole.

“
How do you actually know
Lord Constantine?” Rosa wanted to know, breaking the
silence.

“
He broke into my house
one day and forced me to do this task.”

“
Typical of him,” Rosa
mumbled.

“
It must be quite
corrosive to have a boss like him.”

Rosa snorted. “Corrosive is an
understatement. It’s like hell.”

“
I’m sorry about before,”
Ellen apologized. “I know that you had no choice, but it was a
shocked and I couldn’t help it.”

Rosa bit her lower lip.
“You don’t need to apologize. I must apologize. At least I’ve
killed...” She didn’t finish the sentence. Her feelings of guilt
for Madison’s death had returned—this time stronger.

“
Is that your real hair
color or colored?” Ellen changed the topic.

Rosa smiled at her gratefully.
“Colored.”

“
Why have you dyed your
hair red?”

“
I wanted to be something
else, not normal. Normal is boring.”

Ellen smiled at her. “You’re right.
Normal is boring.”

“
How is it to live as a
witch? It has advantages for sure.”

“
Yes, it has,” Ellen
replied. “But only if my parents aren’t around. They don’t allow me
to conjure anything. They say I should know the true life. Blah.
Blah.” She looked at Rosa. “Why should I? I can
conjure.”

Rosa smiled. “No idea, but you know
how parents are.”

“
Did you have
parents?”

Rosa’s smiled disappeared. “No, I
don’t have parents.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry,” said
Ellen.

Rosa just nodded.

Two passages appeared in front of
then. Rosa and Ellen stopped.

“
Which passage should we
choose?” Rosa asked. Ellen opened her mouth, but Rosa put her
finger in her lips, quieting her. She had heard something. Rosa
pushed Ellen behind her and pulled out the dagger from her
boot.

“
What is it, Rosa?” Ellen
asked quietly.

A demon appeared. His yellow eyes
flashed dangerously, as he watched the two girls. He had bared his
sharp teeth, and sharp, curved claws.

“
Oh God!” Ellen
whispered.

“
Stay behind
me.”

The demon lunged at her. Rosa lifted
her knife and ran toward him. She crouched, so she avoided his
claws and punched him in the stomach. The demon groaned. Rosa
raised her dagger to stab him inhis heart, but he hit her
hand.

The blow was strong and distracted
Rosa. The demon took the opportunity, and scratched her arm with
its claws.

Rosa cried out in pain and stumbled
backwards. She looked shocked, from her injured arm to the
demon.

“
Hello? Do you know how
expensive this jacket was?” Rosa yelled. The demon looked
confused.

“
This jacket was made of
real leather and it was more expensive than you’ll ever be.” She
raised her dagger. “And I loved this jacket. You’re
dead.”

With an angry cry, she ran toward him.
She gave him a punch in the face. His head flew back and for a
split second, his chest was unprotected. Without hesitation, she
pierced her dagger deep into his heart. He screamed and blue blood
flowed from his body.

Rosa withdrew her dagger from his
chest. The demon slumped to the floor and his body shrank until
nothing was left of him.

“
Bastard,” Rosa murmured,
wiping her dagger on her pants. Then she turned around. “Are you
okay?”

Ellen nodded. Her eyes were wide. “You
can fight really well.”

Rosa smiled. “I’m a hunter. I was born
to kill and to fight.”

Ellen nodded and she realized that
Ellen was afraid.

“
Hey.” Rosa reached out
her hand. “You don’t have to be afraid, Ellen. I’m not dangerous,
and I would never hurt you.”

Ellen nodded. “I know, I know. But you
looked quite dangerous, as you fought.”

Rosa pressed her lips together. She
didn’t want Ellen afraid of her. Somehow, she liked Ellen, and saw
her like a friend.

“
These demons are lurking
everywhere,” said Rosa and looked at her torn sleeve. The cuts on
her right arm weren’t very deep. “And he destroyed my
jacket.”

Rose sighed sadly. She was aware that
it was ridiculous in this situation to get upset about her tattered
jacket, but she had loved that jacket.

“
Let me fix it.” Ellen was
beside her, and muttered something. Before Rosa could understand
what had really happened, her jacket looked like new.

“
Ellen,” said Rosa
smiling. “Thank you.”

She laughed. “No problem,
Rosa.”

“
Okay, let’s find this
talisman and get out of here,” Rosa said, starting to
walk.

“
We have to go through the
left passage,” Ellen replied. Rosa nodded and walked ahead. Ellen
followed her.

The corridor was dark and narrow. Rosa
and Ellen squeezed themselves into the aisle.

After endless minutes, they came out
into a big hole. It was built of large, thick chunks of earth with
something lit in the middle.

“
Is that the talisman?”
Ellen asked quietly.

Rosa walked to it. She knelt down and
looked at the talisman. It was small, as small as a button. The
stone was round and shone the color red. The color seemed to move
in the inner of the stone.

“
Is it the talisman?”
Ellen questioned.

“
I think so.” Rosa took
the talisman between her thumb and forefinger and lifted it. It was
strange that such a small piece would be so powerful, and should
have sparked a war between angels and hunters.

When Rosa lifted the stone, the ground
began to shake.

What is
happening now?
The floor and the walls
trembled. Stones fell to the ground.

Rosa shoved the talisman in her pocket
and ran to Ellen.

“
Quick! Get out of here!”
She shoved Ellen into the hallway. They forced themselves through
the narrow passage.

The tremor was getting stronger. If
they didn’t get out quickly, they were going to die.

Rosa and Ellen left the narrow tunnel
behind and ran to the exit. The tremor increased, making it
difficult to keep their balance.

They avoided falling rocks. Rosa
remained at the end of the aisle. Directly behind her a giant
boulder fell on the floor.

“
Where’s the exit?” Rosa
shouted, turning to Ellen.

“
I must conjure it,” Ellen
said terrified.

“
Then do it!”

Ellen stretched her hand and closed
her eyes. Then she began to conjure.

Rosa waited impatiently for Ellen to
conjure the exit. More and more stones fell on the ground, hitting
Rosa and Ellen. The hole was going to collapse in on
itself.

“
Faster Ellen!” Rosa urged
Ellen.

“
Okay!”

Finally, the exit opened.

“
Get inside!” Rosa pushed
Ellen into the opening. Ellen looked at her.

“
I’m right behind you,”
Rosa assured Ellen. Ellen nodded and disappeared through the
opening.

In the final second, Rosa made it out
before the hole in the ground collapsed.