One more time (10)

PREVIOUSLY: Oh no! Hunter sounds like he’s done with talking. I recognized the tone from every other time he got into a fight with someone. By the time he ended his sentence I was standing a little way away from the pier, but I could see the two of them facing each other clearly, I could see the anger on Ian’s face and the cocky smile on Hunter’s...

And I knew this could only end badly...

SUNDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER: I couldn’t make my legs move. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t move. I couldn’t put myself between the two of them, I just wasn’t able to protect my best friends from each other. So I end up on the floor, my legs tucked under me. I feel completely disconnected from my body, and I watch in complete horror as Hunter and Ian begin to size each other up, I can almost see what’s going to happen next, and yet, I’m incapable of stopping them. Tears roll down my cheek in a steady, silent stream and I watch transfixed.

‘I made a mistake, so sue me! I’m allowed to make a bloody mistake, Hunter! Are you telling me that you have never done anything to hurt her?! ‘

‘Unlike you Ian, I care for her too much to hurt her. Perhaps you don’t understand though...’

Which was not true. Hunter had hurt me. Not emotionally, the way Ian did, he hurt me physically, on the night he turned me into a vampire. But Hunter had never meant to hurt me, I couldn’t bring myself to think that Hunter had meant to hurt me.

‘How dare you?!’

And I can see Ian completely lose it. Ian has never been in a fight before, but I see an adrenaline rush in him, he seems to move more fluidly then I’ve ever seen him move before.

In a split second he had shoved Hunter backwards with his full force, and Hunter barely budged. Ian probably didn’t realize that Hunter wasn’t human, and that’s why he barely budged. Ian’s adrenaline rush seemed to have pumped him up, and I have to admit, I’m not so worried about him anymore. And then I look at Hunter and see a flash of red in his eyes and my dread returned. How could Ian match Hunter, Hunter who was a skilled hunter himself (no pun intended), Hunter who was supremely fast and tough.

‘Is that all you got, pretty boy? Even Era could shove me harder than that! How do you plan to win her over, when you aren’t even as strong as she is? How are you supposed to protect her?’

Ian’s face turns red, but I can’t be sure whether out of fury or embarrassment. He aims a punch at Hunter, but Hunter dodges it easily.

‘Come on, Ian! You said you wanted a fight, now you have one, and you’re not even trying to hit me, are....’

Before Hunter could finish his sentence, Ian aims a swift jab right at Hunter’s face, and Hunter goes down so fast. I stare open mouthed. Hunter had underestimated Ian, he had talked too much.

In the next instant, Hunter was back up, looking absolutely livid, his nose looks broken and blood is dripping down his chin and staining his crisp white shirt. Hunter drops into a defensive stance and is now at the exact same height as Ian.
I could see the smugness in Ian’s face.

‘You were saying Hunter? For a pretty boy, I sure made you look a hell of a lot uglier!’

‘Insolent child’

Ian goes on the offensive, throwing punch after punch in Hunter’s direction. Hunter blocks each and every blow. And with every blow he blocked, the smile on his face grows, and Ian’s face gets more and more tensed.

After toying with Ian a little, Hunter throws an extremely forceful punch in Ian’s direction. Ian had no chance of blocking it whatsoever, he gets hit squarely in the stomach and gets thrown into a nearby tree. The back of his head slams against the bark of the tree with so much force, I could actually hear it. Ian slides down and looks like he’s passed out.

My stomach clenches with panic...

TO BE CONTINUED
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