I haven’t seen her in three days. We got in a fight, something so trivial I can’t even remember what it was about. We had both stormed off in a fit and, after that, we’d been so preoccupied with missions that we hadn’t gotten the time to make up as yet, although I know that, as much as I, she doesn’t care about the matter anymore.
Worry pangs my chest. “Do you know what the mission was about?”
Abigail shakes her head. She twirls her braided hair and, for some reason, that bothers me to no end. “I don’t know. All I know is that she said it shouldn’t take very long. I was assuming it was a demon she’s used to handling.”
Natalia can handle most demons. We make a perfect team. That causes my worry to soar.
“Where did she say she was going?”
Abigail shakes her head. “I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
I grip the bow a bit tighter. I’m sure she’s fine. She probably stopped to blow of some steam at an underground club and lost track of time. A lot of hunters frequent those establishments when they aren’t on duty. Natalia isn’t the type who deals with stress well. An ounce of it in the distance and she’s running for the nearest bar, where I, in contrary, usually find myself either in my bed or the training facility one way or another.
She’s fine. She’s just relaxing. She’ll show up when it’s time. I tamper down the volcano of concern that threatens to overwhelm me.
“I’m sure she’s okay,” I tell Abigail. I hand her the bow. “I’m going to bed.”
“Already? Normally you train longer than that.”
“You make it a habit of watching me, Abigail?” I ask her. Before she can answer, I walk away. “Stop staring at me while I’m sleeping.”
“I can’t help it that you snore!”
“Whatever you say, Rusty.”
She groans. I leave the training ground with a little less temper fueling my steps.
4
I don’t wake until six in the morning, which is record time for me. Usually I can’t get out of bed until it is nearing midday, especially if I go to bed as late as I did this morning. But, for some reason, instead of sleeping through the alarm that usually rings throughout the sleeping quarters, I wake an hour earlier.
And I’m not in a good mood.
Abigail is her usually cheerful self, yammering on and on about a dream she had within those four hours of sleep she got during the night. She follows me to the bathroom door, then bombards me again as soon as I exit, though I try to spend a longer time than usual. She continues to jabber on about nonsense, completely ignoring the way I drag my weary body to the closest dining area. It isn’t until she mentions Natalia again do I take a break from blocking her out. I would have chased her away a long time ago, but I am much too tired to even think about moving my jaw.
“She still isn’t back,” she tells me, this time with that twinge of worry that was missing last we spoke.
“She probably has a hangover. Probably woke up in someone’s bed and is trying to find her way home.” I’ve been telling myself the same thing over and over again. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“Really?” Abigail pushes her lips out in thought. She’s already dressed in her standard fighting gear, overly eager for the mission she is set to leave out for at twelve. She just recently upgraded from a newb, so she is still subjected to the boring, modest leathers that cover her from the groove of her neck to the bulge of her ankles.
I hate the design. It’s too hot and tight for my liking. Not to mention how difficult it is to pull over your body. Natalia hated it too and had only endured two days of it before she took it to the tailor. At some point Mr. Black gave up on reprimanding her on the altered clothing.
I, on the other hand, have been tempted to alter it as well, but being too preoccupied with other things, it’s hard to make time for it. Between finding missions to take on and training, I don’t have much free time to do anything else really.
“I always liked Natalia, you know?” Abigail says and I almost groan. She never stops, I notice. Now that Natalia isn’t here, I’m the one she’s decided to bother. I’m not sure I can handle another second. “She’s always up to something. Always having fun. I guess that’s why most people like her.”
“Rust – Abigail, don’t you have something you need to be doing right now?”
Abigail’s squinty eyes blink at me. “No, I don’t. Why do you ask?”
“I just want to eat my food in peace. Is that too much to ask?”
She frowns. “Is something bothering you?”
“You are.”
“How am I –”
I snap. Well, almost. I can feel the pressure mounting from each word she says explode, but before I can do anything about it, the intercom buzzes. All the talking in the dining area dims to a murmur and heads turn toward the sound.
“Conference at nine,” comes the voice I recognize as my father’s secretary – retired hunter Luna Ramos. “Conference at nine.”
“At nine?” Abigail’s eyes widen at me but I only spoon another mouthful of soggy cereal in my mouth. “Usually, they give a longer notice.”
“Must be urgent,” I mutter with my mouth full.
“I wonder what it could be.”
I have an idea, but I don’t say anything. Abigail’s tongue is looser than a pair of granny panties and I don’t need Mr. Black having another reason to find a problem with me. I have no doubt, though, that it has something to do with the weird thing the demon said. Something like that can’t just be ignored.
I hope to hear plans were being put in place to figure out what is going on. I also hope my father doesn’t attempt to leave me out of the loop. That’s a fight I’m not particularly looking forward to, though I’m willing to take him on at any time.
Abigail clearly has no clue what the conference could be about and she mulls over it noisily. She’s talking to herself, but with the volume she’s at, it’s a little more difficult than before to block her out. So, I try to focus on the mission last night and on what Mr. Black might say to us at nine.
As much as what the demon said surprised me, I’m not surprised that it was said. For months, I’ve been feeling a pressure in the air, a clear indication that tells me something isn’t right. I don’t know how to explain it, nor do I know where to look to find the cause of this feeling, but as each day clocks by, it mounts in its persistence. It came to the point where I had to tell someone and sought Natalia’s room instantly. She, like everyone else after her, thought I was being paranoid.
The fact that crime is down doesn’t make my thoughts any more believing. Once, hunters couldn’t catch a break, working day and night trying to bring down the demons causing havoc on the city. Our Intel division tapped into thousands of nine-one-one calls within just a few days, and I, like so many other hunters, could only manage to get a few hours’ sleep before I was out again.
Now, crime only consists of that man-made element. There are no demonic forces at work causing the death of hundreds, but instead it is mundane emotions – or the lack thereof – that drive the knives, the trigger fingers, the blunt force objects to create their own earthly chaos. Accidents are now really just that, accidents. And people have themselves to blame for their mishaps.
But, then, that’s just it. That’s what doesn’t make any sense to me. In all my twenty-two years on this earth, demons have been a constant part of our lives. They live for the kill, thrive off human essence, not caring what it is they have to do or who they have to go through to get it.
Low-ranked demons are the most annoying of them all, and they are created almost instantly. Once you take out one, two more appear. They are everywhere, constantly in search of a poor, unassuming human to prey on. They’re mostly the reason we have our work cut out for us.
It doesn’t make it any better that they make up only a fraction of the demonic populace, and that there are scarier things out there.
So, why now? Where have they all gone? And why isn’t an
yone else as concerned about their silence as I am?
The demon last night didn’t answer all my questions. But it did, at least, let me know that I’m not completely crazy.
I finish the rest of my cereal and get up with the empty bowl. Abigail launches to her feet immediately and follows me like a shadow while I return my bowl to the sink. I ignore her – and her constant muttering – and make my way out the dining hall. We are a few of the last hunters to leave.
“Do you know what it’s about, Melody?” she asks me.
“No.”
“Really? Not even an inkling? Didn’t Mr. Black –”
“He hasn’t said a word to me. We don’t speak about such things.”
Abigail purses her lips, cocking her head to the side. “Really? I always thought you were in the loop with everything because…Well,” she pauses, looking slightly embarrassed. But, if there’s one thing about Abigail that should be noticed, it’s that embarrassed or not, she isn’t one to hold her tongue. “I thought because he’s your father you’d kinda have inside knowledge on…just about everything,” she finishes.
I clench my fist but keep my face impassive. No one really knows about the strained relationship between dear Father and I, and I don’t plan on letting that get out. Not even Natalia knows. I don’t know why yet, but I feel it’s in my best interest to keep quiet about my family affairs.
I’m not very inclined to tell Abigail either way. Can’t forget the granny panties. “I’m sure when we arrive we’ll find out what’s going on.”
Abigail, to my immense surprise, doesn’t say anything to that. She makes a small sound, one that makes me glance at her, but she keeps her silence.
I’m utterly grateful for it. We walk in silence all the way to the elevator, then stand in an even deeper silence as it makes its way to the second highest floor. The door dings open, revealing a crowded hallway, and we are both blasted with noise and chatter. No one knows what’s going on, but what they do know, is that there is cause for alarm. All the chatter is merely those without a clue guessing what the meeting is about and those with even less of a clue urging them on. Somehow in all the commotion, Ben sees me as soon as I step out of the elevator. He’s by my side within a second.
“Hey, Melody,” he says, smiling. “Did you sleep well last night?”
I frown at him. “What’s it to you?”
He mimics my frown, smile falling. “You came in very late last night. And you usually sleep in late. I was just wondering –”
“What is it and you people watching my sleep schedule like that?” I don’t stop to listen to his answer. I weave my way between the hunters, some dressed in their fighter gear, others in casual clothing. I know Ben and Abigail are following me without having to look.
“Watch it,” I hear Abigail say. “She’s snappy this morning.”
“Isn’t she always?”
“That’s true.” Abigail laughs, and a small chuckle escapes Ben as well.
“If you know I’m being snappy,” I say, stopping to face the both of them just as I reach the entrance of the conference hall, “then stop following me. It really is as simple as that.”
“We aren’t following you,” Abigail says before Ben can get a word in. “We’re going to the same place.”
“Exactly,” he agrees and I see a shimmer of humor in his eyes. It makes me even more annoyed. I might deny it all I want, but I really am more on edge today than I usually am. “So, are you going to open the door or are you going to just stand there staring at us?”
What comes to the tip of my tongue isn’t particularly nice, and I’m eager to say it, but someone coughs behind me. I turn to see Luna, my father’s secretary, standing behind me. With the look on her face, I can tell she knows exactly what I am about to say.
“Hello, Melody,” she purrs. “I can see you’re in as great a mood as ever.”
“Is everyone going to comment on that today?” I snap. Despite her age, I don’t regret it. Luna is made of tougher things than she looks and can dole out as much as she can take. If she’s in the mood, I’m sure she won’t mind taking me and my harsh words on.
She only blinks once at me, then crosses her arms. “You better put that attitude away before I don’t let you in here.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“You know I would,” she counters, easing her shoulders back.
I stare at her for a moment longer before conceding. “Fine,” I breathe. “Is it about to start?”
Luna smiles innocently and I struggle not to roll my eyes. “Luckily, you guys are right on time.” Leaning in, so that only I can hear, she whispers, “If you think you’re in a shitty mood, let me tell you, your father definitely has you beat.”
She steps to the side, allowing me to brush past her into the massive hall. As soon as I do, the flood of hunters spill in through the door, all, I’m sure, taking care not to knock Luna over. Usually, if any of them do, they have me to answer to, but I’m too eager to take my usual seat to ensure that they don’t this time. Abigail sits next to me and Ben takes the seat Natalia normally does.
It takes a while for the hall to fill up. The seats all descend downwards to a lowered dais where soon, my father and Luna will grace us with their presences.
Conferences are only called when important things are needed to be said that can’t be said over the intercom. From the heavy buzz in the air, I know every hunter is wondering what it could be about this time.
Ben and Abigail are no different, and, with them on either side of me, I regret my decision not to tell them a thing or two. I sit in silence, watching the door at the front of the hall, waiting to see my father enter.
At long last he does. Silence slices through the air at the sight of him, and everyone automatically sits a bit straighter. Luna shadows him, hands clasped behind her pencil skirt. She follows him to the lectern where he places his broad hands on either side.
He doesn’t have to say a single word for me to know that Luna wasn’t lying when she said he was in a bad mood. It starts with the furrow of his brow and doesn’t end with the look in his eyes. So bleak, that my skin crawls, wondering just how seriously this all really is. Roving his gaze over the crowd, he takes us all in, one at a time. And then, his eyes linger on me for a second and I swear I see hint of remorse. I clench my jaw instinctively.
He’s also in fighter gear. It isn’t abnormal to see him dressed in such a way, since he does go on missions now and then, but the sight makes my trepidation mount.
“Good morning,” he greets. His voices booms within the room. “This will be a short announcement so let me get straight to the point since we have no time to waste.”
From the distance, I swear I see his knuckles go white. Something is definitely off.
Mr. Black looks around the room one more time before saying, “Two nights ago, at twenty-one hundred hours, a squadron of hunters were sent to Upper East Side in response to our Intel division picking up signs of strong demonic activity in the area. Four hunters were sent to the scene. Drake Merriot, Jason Blake, Steven Miller and Natalia Rose. As of seven hundred hours this morning, all four hunters have been reported as missing in action.”
Chaos erupts in my chest. Chaos erupts in the room. Everyone who knows the people called launch to their feet in alarm, shouting things that can’t really be heard and only adds to the noise. Others only gasp to each other, throwing their hands over their mouths in shock and dismay. Abigail is one of them, while Ben mutters, ‘Shit’, next to me.
With every word and every guess and every cry, I feel the muscle in my chest tighten around itself even more. But I don’t stand and I don’t partake in all the speculation – not out loud at least. My eyes, pointed forward, I find my father, searching his gaze for more answers than I know he will give.
He doesn’t say anything. His face remains stoic, eyes calmly taking in the anarchy his words caused. Luna is a straight-face statute next to him.
I continue to star
e, not entirely sure what I should do. Emotions rise in me and I tamper them down, not wanting to have to deal with any of them. There is one feeling, however, that blazes above them all; it’s a feeling I am well-acquainted with. Rage.
It burns within me. I know I don’t show it. I know I’ve successfully mastered the art of a blank mask. But a volcano roars in me as his words replay in my head, as Natalia’s smiling face pops flashes before my eyes. My only friend, the only person I’ve allowed to get closer to me than I ever thought possible… This can’t be real.
Mr. Black finds my gaze and the glimpse of remorse he had shown earlier is gone.
Luna steps up. She bangs her hand against the lectern and bellows, “Settle down!”. Her voice carries wide, and successfully manages to calm the raving crowd somewhat. Those who are standing reluctantly resume their seat.
Without a sliver of acknowledgement to Luna, Mr. Black goes on, “A few of our men have been sent to the site in search of answers about their whereabouts. Their findings have not been forthcoming. Teams of rescue parties will be sent to any location with strong demonic presences in search of the missing hunters. These teams will be announced at approximately nine-thirty. That is all.”
He steps away from the lectern and, without another word, he leaves the room. As soon as the door closes behind him, the uproar begins again. Luna is bombarded by the horde of hunters that descend on her, but, through the sea of people, I see her respond to them in a cool manner.
“I can’t believe this,” Abigail whispers. Her hand finds her chest and her mouth is still open in shock. She faces me. “We were just talking about her yesterday. How could this happen?”
“Those are all talented fighters,” Ben says, confusion strong in his voice. “What could they have gone up against that all four of them are missing?”
“I don’t know,” Abigail responds to him with a shake of her head. “I can’t imagine it. From the way Natalia was talking the last time I saw her, it didn’t sound like a strong demon. She made it seem as if she would be back in no time. Oh, God, I can’t believe this.”
Hunting Darkness Page 3
