Chronicles of Araxx - Forever Broken

Adz, Jay and Gray lost Lee when she entered the tube station, but Jacob didn’t and neither did the drone.

Lee ran down the stairs, with Jacob close behind her.

A security guard looked at her but didn’t stop her, assuming she was just late catching her train.

Lee ran for the gates, beeped her Oyster card and was quickly through and on the other side.

Jacob jumped the gate.

The security guard yelled, “Stop!”

Lee didn’t look back and kept running as fast as she could. She believed if she could get down the escalators and onto a train, she could get away from Jacob.

Adz watched the images from the drone on his sunglasses as Lee headed towards one of the tube trains.

Lee was somewhere on the northern line, although she wasn’t exactly sure where. She stopped for a minute to look at the board to find a place she recognised. She spotted Charring Cross on the map, which reminded her she was meant to meet Vaughan soon. It didn’t look as if that was going to happen.

Lee looked back up the escalator, and Jacob was on his way down.

At least Kane was locked away. Of the two of them, he was the meanest. The last time she saw him, he was in silver chains and it looked as if he’d been captured by the ‘Araxx’ who tried to take her too. If Kane was free he would have used every resource to find her and, no doubt, by now she would have been back in a cell somewhere in Scotland.

She turned the corner onto the platform. There was no train in the station and when she glanced at the clock on the wall, she saw it would only arrive in a few seconds. She didn’t have a second.

She turned around to see Jacob coming through the gap in the wall and straight towards her.

The hiss of the approaching train in the tunnel was getting louder.

It pulled into the station and as the doors opened Lee stepped inside. Floods of people exited the carriage and Lee used the confusion to move down the train, but Jacob was smarter than she thought he was.

He walked down the platform, watching her through the windows and stepped into the carriage at the next door, appearing just in front of Lee.

There weren’t many people on the tube, and none of them paid any attention to Lee or Jacob.

He wasn’t going to attack her on the train, it would attract too much attention so instead, he did something worse.

Jacob took a long stride towards Lee, but before she could get away, he wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her to him. His arms practically engulfed her. She was so small, and he was much bigger than her. The few people who were in the carriage turned away, expecting a public display of affection.

Little did Lee know, Adz and the others were watching her on the drone. They heard and saw everything.

Gray was still guiding them through the streets to where he thought Lee would exit the tube system, but they all stopped when they caught sight of the exchange.

Jacob pressed his lips to Lee’s ear and whispered, “Come home, baby.”

Lee shivered. The feeling of his hot breath in her ear gave her mixed feelings. Once upon a time, she would have given anything to be this close to him, to feel his arms holding her, to have him whisper sweet nothings in her ear, but that time had passed. Her brain wanted nothing more than to be a million miles away from him, but her body was harder to convince.

With her heart beating faster than usual, and with Jacob fully aware of the effect he had on her, Lee was finding it hard to pull herself away from him. She closed her eyes for a second to gather her thoughts.

She could smell him. Sweet, but with an underlying scent she didn’t like. Then she remembered what he was, or what she thought he was. A werewolf!

Fear overwhelmed her yearning to be loved by him and she put her hand against his chest, pushing him away from her with all her might, catching him by surprise.

Jacob reacted quickly, pulling Lee back to him before planting a firm kiss on her lips, taking Lee’s breath away in more than one way.

Adz felt a surge of unexplained rage, which was clear from the look on his face. “We have to get to her. This is getting dangerous,” he said. As he spoke, he answered a call coming in on the glasses Simons had given him. “Sir?”

“I got the call, Adam, what is it? Have you found her?” Simons asked. His question was answered before he had finished speaking. He saw the image the others were seeing instantly. “Holy Mother of… We have to get her out of there.”

“She looks like she’s enjoying it.” Gray laughed a little, then caught himself. It was no laughing matter, and he knew it.

“Be careful Grayson,” Simons warned. “I’m sending backup, boys. I’ve had a team hanging around London for the last couple of days since I threatened to take you off this mission so they’ll be with you soon.” He ended the call.

“We take the next turn, I have a feeling she’s going to come up at the next tube station,” Adz said.

“What gives you that impression?” Jay asked.

“Gut feeling,” Adz said as he darted around the corner.

Jacob’s lips were like fire and ice, all at the same time. The fluttering feeling in her stomach was uncomfortable, but at the same time, she also liked it.

There were so many feelings rushing around inside her, and she knew she shouldn’t be enjoying the kiss, but she was, and it made her feel sick. She remembered all the times Jacob had said things to her, the spiteful, mean things, the words that hurt her, the looks that hurt.

She pulled her body back and stepped away from Jacob, breaking contact with his lips, but he continued to hold onto her hand.

Lee glanced down at their hands and saw an object in his other hand. Before she could move away, Jacob clasped the object around Lee’s wrist. It pinched and burned against her skin. “What is this?” She asked, pain in her voice.

“A gift,” he said simply. “For you to always remember me.”

The door of the tube opened, and as Jacob let go of her, Lee fled.

The bracelet on her wrist burned, and it was painful. Lee tugged at it as she ran, but she couldn’t get it off. The thing was stuck, and the more she pulled, the more it hurt.

Lee took the stairs two at a time in an attempt to get away from Jacob, but his legs were longer than hers, and he wasn’t far behind.

The tube station she’d come out from was small, and there weren’t many people around. Lee instinctively wanted to be around people, as there was less chance Jacob would do anything to harm her, but there weren’t enough people in the area, and Lee didn’t know this part of town well at all.

Lee turned a corner, but it was the wrong way to go. She found herself in an alleyway, with no idea of how to get out quickly. It wasn’t a dead-end and Lee could see the road at the other side, but it wasn’t the alley that bothered her. It was what was in the alley.

Adz was right when he guessed where Annaleah would come up from the tube but they weren’t quick enough to beat her there.

Although they weren’t far away, she was in real danger, and there was a chance they might not make it to her in time.

Adz was running at the front, powering through the streets. He was good on his feet, agile and fast, and the other two lagged behind a little. Adz turned the corner first and saw Annaleah standing in front of him, facing the other way.

She looked shocked.