C H A P T E R   F O U R      

S n a t c h e r s 

  It was early morning when Mirae started to hear noises from outside the cabin. She sat up in her bed and looked over to Minji to see if she was awake to hear the sounds as well, and surely enough she was, "Did you hear it too?" Mirae asked in a hushed whisper. Minji nodded before turning her head to look out the window, using her sharper senses to see through the darkness of the morning to scope out the forest for any suspicious activities. But the sound of a loud explosion soon met their ears, and the two girls quickly jumped out of bed and ran into the living room where they found the other girls standing.  

 "I think it's bombs...it's going off past our land though" Dara said, opening her eyes after Eagle scoping the areas past their land. Eagle scoping gives the girls the ability to look beyond where their current location is, allowing them to feel, see, and hear what goes on past their grounds. It's a common ability that a lot of Aina's possess and use a lot. 

"Do you think its the wolves?" Bom asked, looking back and forth at the girls and the window, wanting to make sure that they won't be the next victims to be attacked. Chaelin shook her head, "It isn't the wolves...," She said, her eyes closed as she felt certain presences in the forest that she has never felt before, and that fact made her a bit alarmed. 

 "What is it Chaelin?" Minji said, taking a soft hold of the latters forearm when she saw the distressed look on her face. Chaelin opened her eyes to look at them, "I can't tell who it is...but there's new people in the forest and I can't pinpoint who they are or what they are" she told them in confusion. Before any one of them could say another word, a loud explosion met their ears and they were sent flying to the ground. A big hole was blown right into the side of their cabin and before they could comprehend what they were going to do next, a bomb had made it's way inside, blowing up and sending the girls flying for cover. Pieces of wood flew through the air along with books and burnt pages of maps and documents, jars of glass fell from the top of shelves and shattered once they had hit the floor, leaving their whole home in disarray.  

 "Dammit!" Chaelin grunted, struggling to stand due to the effects of the bomb. Her limbs ached from the impact she had when landing on the floor, and her ears began to ring from the loudness of the explosion, causing their sharp instincts to go haywire.  All five girls were already covered in black ashes, their hair curtained their faces as they crawled along the wooden floor, meeting each other behind the couch closest to the wall. "We need-" Dara was cut short and began to have a coughing fit. Mirae pulled out a small flask from her pocket and handed it to her, urging her to drink it so it can soothe , and after drinking it, she passed it around so everyone else could soothe their ash-filled throats.  

 "We need to get out of here," Chaelin said. The girls flinched and ducked their heads when another bomb nearby went off and their blood went cold when they heard voices near them. 

 "Shhh" a males voice hissed. He held a finger to the air to silence his comrades as they walked into the cabin, "I can smell them" his gruff voice chuckled. He took slow, long strides across the wooden floor, his eyes scanning the whole area in search for what they came for. Minji took the dare in peeking over the couch and her eyes were met with the side profiles of three males. Slowly, she reached down inside of her boots and pulled out three of her daggers, eyes never leaving her targets as she quickly stood up and with a quick, smooth extension of her arm, all three daggers went flying straight through all three of the intruders throats. They all fell down at once, giving the girls a chance to escape. But when they heard Chaelin call out a stern 'wait!', they all halted and looked back in wonder at their leader who was now crouching down, observing something on one of the dead man's body. 

 Chaelin reached out her hand to push away the collar of the man's coat, and behind the collar revealed an all too familiar marking. A marking that made Chaelins skin crawl of disturbance. The girls were soon joining Chaelin, looking over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Then Chaelin spoke up, "They're Snatchers," she tried her best to control her quivering voice, but succeeded very little. Mirae's face paled and everyone else froze, exchanging worried glances, "What do they want with us?" Bom asked in a skitterish tone, looking nervously at the dead corpses then back at Chaelin. 

 Snatcher’s are known as one of the most sickest mutants alive. They take anyone they can get their hands on and literally strip them of their sanity. They torture, manipulate, connive, they make you see things that aren’t really there or isn't even true. And while they’re having their sick ‘entertainment’, all they’re really doing is killing their prey slowly with their sickening tricks. They really are the worst kind of supernatural’s this world can offer. Chaelin shook her head as she slowly stood up from her crouching position. "I don't know, but we need to-"  

 1, 2, 3 more bombs went off in the front and back of their cabin, causing a yelp to leave all five of their lips as their uneasiness only grew stronger. Chaelin brushed past the girls and began to pack a bag with any surviving supplies they had left that the explosions didn't destroy. The girls followed suit and did the same thing, grabbing weapons, food, gear, books, and maps. And once they were packed, they headed out. Leaving their home they may never be able to come back to. 

 Minutes later they were already running through the forest, Snatchers close on their tales as they began to throw explosive spells there way. Their arms cut through the air in fast motions, in sync with their legs that already began to ache, but they kept on going. They had to keep going. They swerved and dodged all the bombs that were thrown their way. Mirae already had multiple bruises forming on her limbs, a fresh scratch on her cheek with dripping blood from a sharp branch she had hit on her way. They jumped over large logs and boulders, they could hear their heavy breathing in their ears and their hearts were pumping louder with every mile they run.  

 "MIRAE!!"  

 Mirae looked to her side when she heard Dara's warning call and saw that a Snatcher was only feet away from her. He gave her a wicked smirk as he shot a rope out from his wrist. The rope wrapped around Mirae's neck, sending her flying on to the ground as it began to constrict her to the point she couldn't breathe. A weep left as she desperately tried prying the possessed rope off of her neck, she heard the Snatcher cackle as he walked towards her. But before he could even lay a hand on her, a loud sound of a gunshot echoed through the forest, and the Snatcher fell down onto his knees before falling down onto his side, dead, with the bullet in his head. The sound of shuffling leaves could be heard as the girls scrambled their ways over to Mirae, along with Minji jumping out of the tree she was currently standing in after snipping the Snatcher. Bending down, the girls came quickly to her aid so that they could leave as soon as possible. 

 Mirae removed the rope from her neck, revealing a red ring around the soft, sensitive flesh and she winced at the pain. "Are you okay? Can you walk?" Dara asked worriedly, helping the younger girl up on her feet. Mirae nodded, rubbing a hand around her neck in hopes to soothe the aching area. All five Aina's stood there. The forest was deadly silent, their eyes roamed every inch of the forest in front of them and the only thing that could be heard was the loudness of their uneven breaths, their chests rising up and down in fast motions. 

 "Come on...we can't stick around before they-" 

 "CHAELIN!!" All four girls yelled in unison as they watched their leader being swept away by men on largeAli'is. All four of them began to run after the men riding on their large cat-like mounts, desperately trying to save Chaelin. They threw as many spells and curses as they could without hitting Chaelin. But they dodged every spell that was thrown at them, the large cats jumping from side to side as their masters controlled them with the reigns. They all swore they heard Chaelin yelling something, but their minds were so set on saving her, that they didn't hear her. And that was the biggest mistake they could have made that day, because right behind them were more Snatchers on their Ali'is, running right towards them.  

 Bom harshly pushed Mirae out of the way, allowing the Snatcher to pick her up instead, "Bom! No!" Mirae cried out desperately as she struggled to stand up. Her energy was so drained she couldn't even think straight. And the next thing she knew, was that she saw Minji running towards her, blood dripping from the side of her head, her lip was busted and bruised. Minji bent down and picked her up by the arm and dragged her off to somewhere far and safe. Just until they can figure out what they are possibly going to do next. 

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