by Maya Daniels
“Where are we?” Looking around so as not to make him more uncomfortable than he already is, I try to see if there is anything that’s not gray in this room.
“My room.” Clearing his throat, he fidgets. “I never had the urge to decorate it much.” His words sound like an apology and I take a breath to answer him, but his next words feel like a knife in my heart. “I never thought I’d stay alive long enough to matter, you know? Then, I got assigned to your team, and, well, here we are.” He looks around as if seeing the room for the first time as well. “I just never changed it.” With a frown, his blue eyes lock on my green ones.
“Who cares about a room, Jared? You don’t have to do anything you don’t like doing.” Letting him see that I mean every word, I don’t look away. “And you’ll live for a very long time if I have anything to say about it.” A look of shocked surprise makes him jerk upright. “It’s a promise!”
“Thank you!” His eyes glitter like he’s fighting tears. “I’m not the best hunter, Hel, I know that. I never wanted to be a hunter to start with. Unlike you. The rest are all good, but you’re still better.”
“I’m just like the rest, Jared. Well, just like the rest plus the guns.” I grin at him, making him chuckle.
“Yeah, right! We all know they’re planning on pulling you to the Elite hunter teams. We just hope we’ll get to stay with you.” He groans as soon as his words are spoken, placing a hand over his forehead as if in pain.
“What did you just say?” He’s still groaning as if in pain, but the cat is out of the bag already. “Jared! Look at me, damn it! How do you know about that? Who told you? And why didn’t anyone tell me?” I know I’m asking a million questions at once, but I’m so shocked I can’t stop talking.
“Let’s just wait for the others, please? They’ll tell you everything,” Jared pleads with words and with his eyes.
As if on cue, the door opens and Amanda, Cass, and George walk in, their faces solemn, but smiles appear when they see me sitting up on the bed. Staring at them with what I assume is a confused and shocked look on my face, it takes a moment for them to register the tension and panic in the room. Cass hurries to Jared and sits on his lap, wrapping her arms around him while pulling his head to her chest. They are such an unusual couple. Jared with his tall and lean physique, blond hair, and a blue-eyed boy-next-door look, while Cass is short and curvy with caramel skin, dark chocolate eyes, and thick, curly hair falling around her shoulders. I start when Amanda grabs hold of my hand, my head jerking away from the two cuddling on the chair. George stands next to the bed, looking down at me with those dark, fathomless eyes, his brown hair flopping over his forehead and covering his frown.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Amanda tugs on my hand to get my attention.
“I’m fine!” I watch her eyebrows go up and I groan at my snappish reply. Taking a deep breath, I go on, “I mean, I’m fine. Everything just piled up, and the anxiety made me lightheaded…I think. Which reminds me!” Pulling her so Amanda can fully turn towards me, I grab both her hands in mine. “What happened? What did they say and most important, why on earth did you say it was you? What possessed you to lie?”
“Calm down, Hel!” I glare at her while she’s trying to placate me. “Okay, fine!” She huffs. “I lied because you suck at it, okay?”
“What?” Taken aback by the comment, confusion makes me shake my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means something is not right and no one is saying a word until we know what it is!” George snaps, speaking for the first time. I glare at him, but he’s unfazed. “As much as I love seeing those green eyes glare at me, it’s got nothing to do with you! Well…” He tilts his head left and right as if debating it, making his hair flip around. “I’m not sure it has nothing to do with you, but that’s not the most important thing. Amanda’s right. You suck at lying. Even if it’s omitting the truth, it’ll be written all over your face. So, Amanda taking it upon herself to cover for you was the smart thing to do.”
“I told you, jerk is his flirting mode.” Amanda bumps her shoulder on mine and the couple on the chair snicker at that. I ignore her.
“What does that mean? Are we talking about the demon?” Looking from one face to the next, I’m trying to figure out what they’re telling me.
“No. We’re talking about sending a team of hunters on a mission that was clearly above our level and obviously for an Elite team.” George apparently took it upon himself to be the voice for the team, so, I just stare at him, waiting to hear the rest. “We shouldn’t have been there last week. We’re good, yes!” His chest puffs up with pride. “But we’re not that good. You might be better than the rest of us, but unless they wanted you dead, no one in their right mind would’ve sent you there with just us watching your back.”
“What are you saying, George?” I search his eyes as my body grows numb and a nauseating feeling makes cold sweat break out all over me. “What are you telling me?”
“Someone wanted either you or us out of the way. There’s no other explanation. The fact that we came back without a scratch—” He pulls a face at that, looking pointedly at my forearm, and as if called, the now-smooth skin there, throbs at his words— “it was either good luck, or else we just painted a larger target on our backs.”
“Why the hell would anyone here want to harm us? Are you all insane?” Incredulously, I turn my head, searching their faces for something to tell me that this is some sick joke. These people here are our family. They’ve raised us, trained us. It’s the only home we know. But, instead of laughing and telling me ‘Gotcha!’ like they usually would, only solemn faces stare at me. George holds my stare the longest, and without a word, lifts his hand towards me, handing me an envelope.
“We’re not going!” Throwing the paper at George’s chest, I glare at him as if he’s the one responsible for this stupidity.
“I don’t think we have a choice, Hel.” My glare turns to Amanda, but she just presses her purple-painted lips into a thin line. “Glare all you want! What are you going to do, huh? Walk down there and tell the patrons ‘Which one of you is trying to kill me? I’m not going anywhere.’” She mimics my husky voice, and I really want to strangle her.
“They’re talking about a nest of hundreds!” Looking around at all of them, my stomach feels like it’ll empty itself at any moment. “Hundreds! None of us are coming back alive. You understand that, right?”
“We have our secrets, too!” Jared quips and shrinks in the chair when we all turn to look at him.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Suspicion eats at me, and I hate it. This whole thing feels like a nightmare I really want to wake up from.
“We’ve been collecting weapons, healing salves, money, you name it, this last week.” My eyebrows are hitting my hairline when I look at Amanda, but she just rolls her eyes at me. “You were too busy avoiding us, remember?”
“I thought something was wrong with me.” Feeling warmth on my cheeks at my own stupidity, I press the backs of my hands against them to cool them down. My white skin doesn’t help hide my embarrassment. “I thought it’d make you doubt my loyalties.”
“Things can make me doubt your sanity, Hel. Never your loyalty.” Amanda snickers at her own joke, but I don’t laugh. “What?” Wide-eyed, she spreads her arms. “Not funny?” Cocking her head to the side, she blinks few times. “Not even a little funny?”
“This is insane!” Grabbing my hair in both hands, I just stare at them. “Maybe the elite teams are busy. There must be a logical explanation for this. It’s been getting crazier by the day, after all. And we are really good at what we do. So…” Dragging out the word, I try to reason with them. “They’re sending us! I mean, Hector is sending me there! Hello! We’re talking about the same man that would trample anyone to catch me if I tripped so I wouldn’t have a scratch on me.”
That’s another thing. Hector, the oldest patron we have, is my father. Well, not biological, but he took me
in when I was a few days old, and he’s the only father I’ve ever known. Was he the best parent? I don’t know. Was he the worst? I couldn’t say, since I’ve never had a different one. I was happy, that much I know. He was strict, with some archaic beliefs but regardless of anything, he taught me everything I know, starting from what was right and wrong and all the way to hair products and makeup. Whenever I asked about my real parents, he only patted my head, telling me an archangel brought me to his door. Snorting, I always rolled my eyes at his joke, especially since he called me ‘little angel.’ With my large breasts and round hips, I most definitely could be related to the chubby cupid.
“That’s what’s messing with my head as well.” George pulls me from my trip down memory lane. “If it were just the rest of us, I would’ve been getting in their faces, asking which one is possessed. But if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that Hector would not let a hair go missing from your head—and he just sat there, calmly, when they gave me this!” He waves the paper with the coordinates in the air, glaring at it.
It looks comical to see George, with his broad shoulders and arms as big as my thighs, glare at a piece of paper. He was never fond of books or reading, not even at school, so seeing him like this makes me snort before I try to cough and cover it up.
“What?” he snaps at me, and I can’t help it, I laugh. The others join, too. Shaking his head, he lowers the paper, and after a moment, he chuckles as well. “What a fucking mess.” He rubs a hand over his square jaw and face.
“We’ll be fine. I’m actually thinking that maybe we might even be like a cleanup team. Maybe we’re just cleaning up what’s left of it.” Cass speaks for the first time while she’s still cuddling Jared.
“Yeah. I wouldn’t go that far, but as I said, I think Hector would be screaming bloody murder if it was really as bad as it looks on paper,” I assure them, more confident by the minute that I’m right. “I’d also like to know who told you guys that I might be pulled to an elite team? Because I have a team, thank you very much. I don’t need, or want, a new one.”
“For someone who likes to be quiet, my friend, you talk too much!” Amanda glares at Jared, and the poor guy would merge with the chair if he could. “It’s been a rumor for a few months now, Hel. Ever since that guy, what’s his name?” She snaps her fingers around, waiting for someone to supply the name. “Aha! Benjamin. Thank you, Amanda!” She gives herself a high five. “Ever since big old Ben never came back from a mission they’ve been looking for a replacement. Out of all the teams, so far you have the most kills in hunts. Plus, miss goody-two-shoes, you follow orders, and everyone knows that you are the favorite. It’s a logical assumption.”
A knock on the door stops further questioning or arguments and Jared stands up while Cass scrambles to get off his lap. He looks at us in turn before squaring his shoulders, walking up, and yanking the door open. I almost expected him to punch whoever it is on the other side.
“Ah, good! All of you are here.” Adam walks in, making Jared take a few involuntary steps back so they don’t bump chest to chest. “Are we ready, then?” He looks at us with his eyebrows raised, and it’s pulling the skin on his face weirdly, making his scar more visible.
“Ready for what?” I ask dumbly, unable to stop staring at the black long-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants that he’s wearing instead of his usual robes.
“To go clean up the nest of abominations!” he tells me excitedly as his eyes glitter with excitement. “I’m going with you!” A large smile stretches his lips and he claps his hands, rubbing them together.
Amanda and I both jump a little at the clapping sound, making him chuckle. Without waiting for us to say anything, he starts walking out the same way as he walked in. We all look at one another, the absurdity of the whole thing not lost on us. Sliding my hands over my hair, I take a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. We will be okay, I’m sure.
“Go on, get out, go home.” Mumbling, I watch my team. They nod in understanding as we turn towards the door.
“Hurry along, then! There’s no time to waste!” Adam yells from down the hall.
Leaning on the back of the black SUV that brought us here, chewing on my thumbnail, I scan the surrounding area. Another suburb that must’ve been a joy to live in not long ago stares back at me. The cookie-cutter homes that must have been idyllic are replaced with broken fences, yellowed grass lawns, and discarded broken furniture and toys that feel like accusing fingers in my face, and there’s not one human in sight, dead or otherwise. I almost feel the ground under my boots screaming at me, ‘You’re too late! Where were you when they needed you?’
It’s a dead end. That’s where the patrons sent us, with instructions to clean up a demon’s nest. There might have been hundreds or even thousands of them here, but as it stands at this moment, there is not even one left that I can take my confusion and frustration out on. Everyone else is walking in and out of the homes and buildings, looking for any sign, or anything really, that might point us in the right direction. It’s impossible for an entire neighborhood to just vanish, leaving only inanimate objects behind. It looks like an abandoned town after the Apocalypse. The wind picks up, whistling eerily amongst the sparse trees, adding to the dread I feel.
“Anything?” I call out to Jared when he walks out of yet another gloomy, broken home, but he just shakes his head sadly and walks towards another yard. “Run along, then. I’ll just sit right here…doing nothing!” I mumble under my breath as I watch him disappear through yet another door.
I guess this is my punishment for having a mouth I can’t control. Adam made sure I stand here ‘in case’ something shows up while they’re searching. Guard duty, my ass. This feels like torture, as I keep on abusing my thumb with my teeth and tap the fingers of my other hand on the buckles of my belts. He knows how much I want to do anything, if only to keep from sitting idly. But that’s why I’m here and all of them are searching.
A shadow darkens the side of the closest home before it blends in with the rest. My body stiffens, but I watch it from the corner of my eyes while my hand glides smoothly along the belts around my hip until I get a good grip on my gun. The bullets I use are infused with holy water and salt. Made out of blessed metal, they kill the abominations like nothing else I’ve ever used. The guns were Hector’s gift to me for my eighteenth birthday, and I haven’t had them out of arms’ reach since that day. Longer than the usual revolver, they almost look like something you would see on a safari hunt, which is not far from what I'm doing, if you look at it that way. The difference is that I love animals and would never hurt one. Abominations, on the other hand, are fair game.
Another shadow, this one on the opposite side of the road, darkens, expands, and retracts within a blink of an eye but just long enough for me to notice it. I’m not sure if it’s the adrenaline pumping through me at the prospect of a hunt, or it’s an unusual fact that everyone is still holed up somewhere and I haven’t seen them exit for a tad too long. Placing my bent fingers at my lips, I whistle gently, hoping I don’t startle whoever it is that’s sneaking up on us. Seeing Amanda walk out the door a few houses down from the SUV calms the unease that I was feeling, but it’s short-lived and panic grips me, making me unable to warn her.
Lifting her head up, her face illuminated by the yellow light of the street lamp, she looks at me with a broad smile a second before my heart lodges in my throat. The most massive demon I have seen in my life, his skin as black as night and eyes as bright and yellow as the sun, looms behind her, towering over her a moment before I see its sharp teeth flash in the light and sink into her neck. Amanda’s face, frozen in shock, is the last thing seared into my brain before the demon slinks back in the shadows and I can’t see it anymore. All hell breaks loose in a split second.
They come out from everywhere. I have no clue how many there are; it could be a handful or hundreds. All I know is I need to get to Amanda. Both guns in hand, I start sprinting and firing all around me, the gunshot
s making the quiet neighborhood sing a song of death and destruction when the demons start dropping like flies. More replace the ones that have fallen, and it feels like I’m slowly running in place instead of sprinting because I must stop and turn in circles so they don’t close in on me from my back.
Movement makes me hesitate when someone slinks behind me, but a demon screams and drops on the ground, which means one of my team has my back. Ignoring whoever it is, I continue to press on so I can get to Amanda. Like a well-oiled machine, we make progress, leaving abominations the likes of which I’ve never seen before in our wake. When I reach the place where she last stood, I wish that I never lived long enough to get to her. She always looked like a doll, so perfectly beautiful, and porcelain-like. At the moment, in front of me on the ground, she looks like a broken doll. Her beautiful brown eyes stare unseeing, her head rests at an odd angle, and her body is crumpled in a heap. A pool of blood surrounds her, looking like a black puddle in the night.
My hands drop to my sides as I stand numbly, staring at my best friend. Grunts and thuds sound all around, and the demons can get to me, for all I care. I didn’t make it to her on time. The shock is so sharp I can’t even cry, even though my soul is screaming inside me. All I can do is stand and stare unblinkingly at her.
“You better snap out of it, cupcake! I can’t hold them back on my own. You can grieve later when we get out of here.” A deep baritone reaches my ears, and the effect on me is like a punch in my chest. The air whooshes out of my lungs as my head snaps in his direction.
The most stunning and intriguing man I have ever seen in my life is the one that was guarding my back. His dark brown hair is held away from his face in a small ponytail, but the fringe has slipped from the band and falls over one side, making me want to reach up and tuck them behind his ear. Smooth, tan skin stretches over high cheekbones, a perfectly straight nose and full, kissable lips that are spread into a smile. His green eyes sparkle as he winks, while I just gape at him before he turns around and continues to fight the demons. No, he is not killing them with any type of a weapon like the rest of us hunters. He is actually physically fighting with them like they are human.
