Then I heard her screams. Belle’s screams. They came to me, not in words but in images of death. Her death, so that I knew I was killing her. That should have stopped me. But the thing inside was awake and in control. I‘d let it out and it was determined to stay out. Belle smelled of fear and pain and therefore was prey. I couldn't stop it, not by myself. I shuddered knowing I would have killed her, then moved on to others. But Kat came, a juggernaut of irresistible power. My Beast thought it was strong, thought it was a Hunter, but she tore me from the great cat like I was nothing! Part of me was glad but another part raged at her, tried to hurt her even as she saved Belle. Then she’d had to do the same for Meeta. I was dangerous.
The memory ended and I fell to my knees and threw up until there was nothing left to heave onto the floor.
“You remember.”
It wasn't really a question. Meeta knew. She’d been there with me in my mind. Seen it all.
“With the power comes the darkness; an unquenchable hunger, a desire to dominate and to kill. Madness. It's why the Hunter species was not sustainable,” she informed me sadly.
“What have you done to me?” I whispered in horror.
Meeta nodded. “We‘ve done this to you. No doubt. The infection takes time. Your connection with Kat has awakened parts of your brain that were long abandoned by evolution. Now you‘re becoming like her. A Hunter. This shouldn't have become a problem because the power grows slowly and the hunt is dangerous. It's not usual for a shadow to survive as long as you have.” Meeta gave me an evaluative stare, “Most die before they become a problem. But not you. Now you share your body with your Beast and unless you can learn to keep it in check, no one will be safe around you. The failure rate in new Hunters in this is very high. The Beast wants to rule.”
“I was right then,” I said, my voice bitter. “I was always just a tool to be discarded when you were done with me.”
Again she nodded. “That’s always been the way. For some reason Kat decided to handle you differently from all the others. A Hunter never shares power with her shadow. I didn't think it could even be done. Kat masks her Beast well, but it‘s always near. It would destroy you the instant her control slipped if it could.
I struggled to understand but failed. “You seem safe enough with me. I don't feel any different from how I had before.”
Meeta stood, stretched and rubbed her temples tiredly. “The GateKeeper has used worlds like yours to conduct his Hunts for hundreds of years. In all that time there has never been a Hunter like Kat. She's the most long lived and also the strongest there's ever been. Strong enough to bind the darkness within you for a time. Three hundred and thirteen hunts,” Meeta's voice became wistful, “and she lives yet. Somehow she’s mastered her Beast. None other before her has managed this for more than a brief amount of time.”
“Three hundred and thirteen sounds like a big number,” I said dutifully impressed.
“Brenal-Tik is one of the few Hunters Kat agreed to train,” replied Meeta in response. “I was there during his training. He hated what was happening to him. That might be why Kat agreed to train him in the first place. He worried the hunt was turning him into an animal. Kat tried to help. Tried to teach him how to master the animal inside. He has only ten Hunts behind him. Now he hunts for the joy of it. When a Hunter takes a life his Beast because more powerful. When he kills it takes everything; the memories, the love, the hate as well as the power. It all becomes a part of you. Some of it strengthens, some of it weakens, but it always changes you. Gives you a thirst that never leaves. You cannot kill like a Hunter without consequences.
I shuddered, envisioning the life. Tracking, killing. Feeling the power of the Beast within. The thing within me flexed and I felt its power. There was a compulsion to use it, to let it wake. Aroused it made you strong. I pushed the feeling down with effort.
“Ah,” said Meeta, “you begin to see. Let me tell you more about Brenal-Tik and how he changed. On his last hunt he tracked a female, finally caught her, used her, then tore her to pieces. Then he made a fire and cooked a few of the tastier pieces. The Beast rides him now. It fights its leash from the day it's born. Brenal-Tik is young, only ten hunts and already his Beast is the master. That is the darkness inside you will need to fight.”
I took a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. “You're saying I'm destined to become a killer? That there's literally no hope for me?”
Meeta walked over to a nearby counter and started picking through the equipment laying there. After examining a couple of strange looking devices she injected herself with one of them, another she placed around her neck and turned on. A gentle hum came from it. The last was a headset she didn't put on.
“I was instructed to tell you the truth. I‘ve done this. Now I must see to Kat. The draw worked to the extent she was better. Then you lost control and forced her to expend valuable energy saving you once again. She had to pull you out of Belle and that hurt her. Now, because of you, her injuries are again desperate. I must send her back to her own body on HomeWorld so she can feed properly and recover. She will need at least two days there before she can return. That’s assuming the GateKeeper allows her to return. To do this, I will become the link between this world and HomeWorld. I’ll use one of the medical pods to sustain my body until she returns. During that time I won’t be able to communicate with you. Stay here. Do not leave SHIP for any reason. Those are Kat's orders.” She turned to leave me.
“I need you to tell me more before you go,” I said.
She turned back, obviously impatient to move on.
“Tell me about Hunters. You said they were an evolutionary dead end but you have Kat and Brenal-Tik.”
Sadness bloomed on Meeta's face so I knew I’d hit a nerve. “On our world there are two classes of beings; citizens and Tiks. Those that are born and those that are made,” she clarified. “I am a Tik, as are all Hunters. With Hunters the scientists played with the mind as well as the body. They forced old evolutionary connections to reawaken.”
She paused, considering how much she wanted to tell me. Sighing she continued, “Millions of years ago when our primary species first crawled out of the mud they were weak things, struggling to survive and in danger of extinction. Everything around them was bigger, meaner, faster. They needed an advantage, something that would give them a better chance to survive. And Nature provided. One day a little used part of their brain suddenly turned on and they became sensitive to energy fields. Now they could sense an animal's nearness through the energy field that surrounded it. They no longer had to see an animal to hunt it, or avoid it, if it was hunting them. Through practice and time their abilities grew. They achieved rudimentary mind speech. This was a major advantage. The Hunter species expanded, spread across the globe. Decades passed. The neural connections grew even more powerful with constant use, dangerously so.
Their bodies began storing more and more of the energy they took like a battery. This changed their internal physiology so their bones hardened and muscles strengthened. They became faster and infinitely meaner. Everything improved but their intelligence. Instead of becoming smarter, they became like the animals they hunted. Feral. Their original tribal nature fragmented and became lost. They began hunting each other. The pleasure of draining another Hunter proved irresistible. Their population fell. They began to die as a species for a second time. What had made them strong was now destroying them.
Evolution tried again, turned off that part of their brain that lived for the hunt. They had to use their brains, make tools, learn to cultivate the land or die. Their intelligence grew along with their technology. Their tribal nature reasserted itself. They developed weapons and learned to work as a group to trap and kill the bigger animals. They survived.”
Meeta took a deep breath and I was surprised to see her wipe her eyes.
“A few centuries ago the Tik sub-species was created. Beings designed to serve, like myself, were created. Our civilization split into two. Citizens
and Tiks. As you might imagine, it is better to be born a citizen than a Tik made inside a Vat. As long as we serve well our lives are bearable but there’s no escaping the fact that our purpose is to serve. That is also Kat’s purpose. She serves the GateKeeper, helping to find new worlds in the multiverse for us to exploit and sometimes just as a Hunter for the entertainment of our citizens.
The Hunter species is part of our past. Like the T-Rex of your world’s past our people have a fascination for them. So our scientists learned how to grow Hunters in the Vats, then trained them to follow orders. Most Hunters succumb to the power of the animal inside. When that happens they’re destroyed. A very few survive the process but none for long. Until Kat. She’s lived through three hundred and thirteen Hunts. Until her, twenty-five was the limit. Twenty-five hunts before the Beast inside took over, killing the human part that had birthed it. So far, Kat is the only exception.”
I was appalled. Meeta was describing a world where people were created and used like appliances. “Your world sounds really great,” I said with more than a touch of sarcasm.
Meeta smiled sadly. “You would be right to avoid it. I'm quite certain you wouldn’t be welcome. If you’re not a citizen, you’re a servant. And servants are used hard.” Gathering herself she hustled to the far wall which was white and featureless except for a flat black box that protruded from it. She laid her hand on the box and a second later it beeped and part of the wall disappeared. I could see a coffin like object inside, gently rocking five feet above the ground in total disregard to the law of gravity.
Meeta turned, giving me a last look, “Remember Nicholas, stay in the facility until I return. You may freely explore but I'm afraid you will find no exit that will open for you. You are safe for now. Belle will watch over you.” She hesitated, “I am sorry for what has happened to you. And for what will happen to you,” she added softly. Then she turned and strode briskly away. A moment later the wall returned.
I stood there dumbfounded. According to Meeta I was a walking time bomb that couldn't be trusted. My animal nature would assert itself and I’d become a killer, subject to its whims and impulses. How could that be? I wasn’t like that and had never been like that. I was a bit of a loner but quick to help when help was needed. Now I was something else? A killer? I shook my head. I didn't feel any different. Then I realized I did feel different. There was something scratching at the back of my mind that wanted out. And I had killed. That was Kat, I quickly added. I decided to think about that later.
I was tired, exceptionally so. I put a hand on the wall to steady myself as an image of Kat surfaced in my mind; her eyes hungry. The eyes she'd worn when she'd come for me. That's why I felt so weak. She'd fed on me! Almost killed me! Anger flared inside. I wasn't anyone’s dinner! And all this Hunter crap! She accepted her fate but that didn't mean I had to. Suddenly I realized I'd had enough. I couldn't trust her, couldn't trust Meeta. Yes, Kailex was a problem but why was he my problem? Only because of her. When she'd taken my life she'd made him my problem. Well, I wanted my life back. I wasn’t going to play this weird game I didn't understand anymore. Just because she was a foot soldier for someone called the GateKeeper didn’t mean I had to be one as well. Just saying his name I knew I didn’t like him. He was probably another sociopath who’d have me killed the moment I wasn’t needed. I nodded to myself. It was time to leave. Kat was gone from me. Meeta was out of reach and I was caught inside a game I couldn't win. If I stayed, I'd die. Better to leave. I might even be able to reclaim my old life. I warmed to that idea instantly. It would be good to have that boring old life back!
Meeta has said I was locked inside SHIP but she was a tech not a jailer. I began wandering, looking for a way out. Everything was curves and arches. I'd walk to a wall, any wall and a door would appear. All doors came with that black hand-pad but I didn't need to do anything to activate them, the doors just appeared and disappeared after I'd gone through. It was a little unnerving at first, entering a room that suddenly had no exit or window but I got used to it and pushed on until it became clear SHIP was either endless or just opened new rooms for me whenever it decided I wanted one. Maybe I was simply traveling in a circle? The only door it wouldn't open it seemed, was the one to the outside. If there was an outside. Was I still on earth? I had no idea.
Frustrated I kicked a chair and watched it fly across the room to bounce off the wall. I considered that for a moment. The chair wasn't heavy but had gone a considerable distance. I picked it up. Just a chair but made of stern stuff. I gripped the two ends and pulled it apart fairly easily. Perhaps I was dangerous? I dropped the broken pieces and watched them melt into the floor. Dangerous to chairs maybe. I had to get out of here.
A door opened with a discreet ‘whoosh’ behind me. Just Belle. I tried not to stare but she was beautiful. Forest green eyes sunk deep into her skull. Long thick fur curled in silky rivulets along her body accentuating her muscles. She flowed across the room to stand beside me then sat and just stared at me. I felt a light touch of power open communication between us. Images of her nose down and following a trail through thick brush suddenly appeared in my thoughts. That translated itself into a message I could understand. She wanted to know if I was hunting something.
“Yes,” I said. “I want to leave SHIP. Kat needs to find someone else to help her. This isn’t my fight.” I was unable to keep the weariness from my voice.
Immediately images of her running down a winter trail flooded my mind. I watched as she leaped onto the back of a small creature and tore it to bits. She was reminding me I was a Hunter. A killer. Dangerous.
“That isn't me,” I explained earnestly. “I'm not like that. I'll never be like that.”
She cocked her head as if she'd misheard, then let out a small cry. Images of me feeding on her came to me. Along with it came feelings of power and the love of the hunt. Enjoyment! I was killing her and enjoying it!
I jumped back aghast, slammed down a wall between us, stopping the images. But it was too late. I knew what I’d seen and felt was the truth! I'd almost killed her and I’d enjoyed every minute of it. A wave of guilt washed over me and I dropped to my knees before her.
“I'm so sorry Belle. You saved me and I …”
I couldn't finish the sentence. I put my arms around her neck and hugged her. I really was a monster! Then I felt our connection pushing against the barriers I'd erected. Hesitantly, I allowed them to open. I saw Belle, her mouth dripping blood from her kill standing tall in the woods. She lifted her head to the sky and howled and it was a song of triumph and survival. In its own way it was beautiful. She was telling me there was no shame in being what you were. If you were a Hunter, you hunted. Things lived, things died. She’d already forgiven me.
The fact that she didn't hold my actions against me brought me to tears.
“This will never happen again. I swear it.”
She considered my words, then moved to the wall we'd come through. A door appeared, activated by her proximity. She placed a paw on the black pad and the door color changed to a light blue. She turned to me. An image of her running free in the woods came to me. I nodded. She'd opened the way for me. I bent down and took her great head in my hands, sending her my thanks.
The door opened to an alley. Ahead of me was a street, not overly busy but still well populated with people. I recognized a restaurant I'd visited once, the Sarazad. It served great Mediterranean cuisine, excellent falafels. I was back home in my own city. It was later in the day and the street should have been buzzing with activity. Robson was the preferred street for tourists and locals. Today I didn't see any tourists, instead I saw people hurrying home. No one was talking and restaurant patios were largely barren of patrons. Frowning I started making my way toward Granville and Georgia. From there I could catch the subway to Jericho Beach Park and walk home. I needed to rest.
Kat must have fed well I thought, too tired to be angry. Abruptly a person jumped to the left, running right into me in his effort t
o get away from something. I grabbed his shoulders to steady him and our eyes locked for a moment. It was like falling into the ocean. I saw a series of images, all obviously events in his life. Then I felt his horror at something that had just happened, his fear. A burst of energy poured from him into me. I was feeding without realizing it! It was the contact! He staggered and fell forward so that I was holding him up. I pushed him away, hoping he’d remain standing. Worried that someone might have noticed this strange behaviour I looked around but everyone seemed caught up in their own thoughts.
“Are you OK,” I asked him with some concern. I didn’t want to touch him again but I was also afraid to just leave him. What had I done?
The man backed further away from me as if he sensed his danger, then snarled, “If you really want to help, put that dog on a leash!
Giving me a wide berth he continued down the street, only looking back once to make sure I wasn't following. I felt a wet nose push itself into my hand and realized I wasn't alone. No wonder the guy had been scared! Belle had followed me. An image of two wolves traveling in the forest came to me. She'd been told to watch me and clearly wasn't about to leave me on my own. That didn't fit my plans but there was little I could do about that now.
“Stay close,” I whispered, sighing. Everything in my life was so much more complicated now.
By the time I got to the Metro station I was glad no one had called the police on me. Belle was just too big to be considered an ordinary dog and brought stares and whispers everywhere we walked. On the positive side, people stayed away from us. As long as they didn't pull out their phones call the cops I was good with that. For her part, Belle was doing her best to look small and friendly but was, in my estimation, pretty much unsuccessful. She was a predator. When she looked at people they were just walking steaks to her.
The God Hunters Page 13
