by Kody Boye
Would Guy have cared, I wondered, if I’d slept with Aerick so soon after his death, or would he have simply laughed it off and simply said not to worry about it? Knowing Guy, it would’ve probably been the latter, but our relationship had become so strained near the end that there was no easy answer to my undying question.
With a nod, I rolled against Aerick’s body and sighed as I pressed my face into the curve of his neck. He, in response, wrapped an arm around me, then turned his head to nuzzle his stubbly chin against the top of my skull. “It’ll be all right,” Aerick said after several long and tense moments of silence. “You know it will be.”
“I know.”
“The only thing we have to worry about now is how we’re going to move from this point forward.”
There was no way we’d be able to keep the house on the minimalistic budget the two of us would be making. Guy had been the breadwinner—the real source of income within the home that had once housed the three of us. For that reason, we’d have to move, but where would we go? Would we stay in Austin—hoping, to God and all His glory that we would find some source of stability, or would we have to move elsewhere in order to survive the tumultuous climate that was the ever-changing world?
I didn’t know. At that moment, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. I did know, however, that it was something that had to be addressed soon, and for that reason knew I had to take it into careful consideration.
“You said,” Aerick started a short moment later, then stopped when he likely felt as though he couldn’t continue.
“I said… what?” I asked.
“That you wanted to kill them all,” he replied. “Is that really true?”
“The Sanguine are a scourge upon humanity. They need to be wiped out.”
“Who knows how many there are, Jason. You can’t expect to hunt down every single last one.”
“Why not?” I asked, propping myself up on one elbow. “It’s not as if they’ve been very willing to hide.”
“I know, but still.”
“There’s a conglomeration of them working together in central and north Texas,” I replied, reaching out to press a hand against Aerick’s smooth shoulder blade. “If I can find the source of them—if I could just go in and wipe them out—maybe I could—”
The look in Aerick’s eyes said it all.
He didn’t believe I could do it—not by a longshot.
“You don’t believe me,” I said.
“I believe your passion,” Aerick replied. “I’m just not sure if I believe the logistics behind it.”
I didn’t say anything. Rather, I rolled my feet out from under the covers and set them on the floor before reaching for my underwear.
“Where are you going?” Aerick asked.
“I need to talk to Scarlet,” I replied, “and see if she has any advice for me.”
“What’re you talking about?”
“I want to become a Hunter, Aerick. I want to kill the bastards that slaughtered the man who gave me everything.”
And, I was loathe to think but didn’t add, who’d also taken everything away.
6
Scarlet Jane was not an easy woman to find. After combing through the various passageways on the floor Aerick and I were situated on and knocking on doors to find out who the occupants behind them were, I eventually made my way downstairs and to the front desk—where, behind the immaculately-white and clean table, the Asian keeper whom had greeted us upon our initial indoctrination informed me that Scarlet was directly outside the building.
“Outside?” I asked, to which the Keeper replied with a nod. “Really?”
“Yes sir,” the female Keeper said. “She’s right—”
The sliding glass doors opened behind me, causing just enough noise to make the Keeper stop in her tracks. I turned just in time to face none other than Scarlet. “‘Sup, Ice Man?” she asked.
“I needed to talk to you,” I replied. “Do you have a minute?”
“I have more than a minute,” she replied. “Come on. Follow me.”
I did so hesitantly, with trepidation I felt was unwarranted given that I’d no qualms with the woman nor she with me, and followed her outside and into the cool Autumn air, which immediately made me regret not having worn warmer clothes on our trip down to San Antonio.
Inside the camper—with the door and windows closed and Shadow nowhere to be seen—Scarlet popped open the fridge, withdrew a pair of colas, then passed one to me before saying, “Shoot.”
“I want to become a Hunter,” I replied.
The laugh that followed would have demoralized me entirely had I not already been so consumed with rage.
“A Hunter?” she asked, a tinge of laughter still within her voice. “You?”
“What’s so funny about that?” I replied.
“Well, for one, you’re… you,” she said. She tapped between her eyes to signify the glasses I wore and ran a hand down the front of her body, as if to insinuate I was not properly built for the job. “And for two, it would be currently impossible for you to become a Hunter.”
“Why? What’s stopping me?”
“The fact that your body cannot accept the Trinity Serum.”
Trinity Serum? What was that?
“I’m… not following,” I replied. “I thought—”
“That I was human?” she asked, then smiled, revealing devastatingly-white teeth between her gorgeous full lips. “I am—at least, more than you are, anyway.” She paused here and allowed her smile to fade before following that up with, “I’m not even sure I should be telling you this.”
“It’s not like I’m going to blab your secrets to the world,” I replied.
“No, but—” Scarlet sighed. She popped open her can of soda and took a swig before setting it down and returning her gaze to me once more. “The Trinity Serum,” she began, “is a concoction formed from the DNA of a Kaldr, a Howler and a Sanguine. Once a Hunter undergoes the Process of Assimilation—which, in layman’s terms, means integration into the Supernatural world—it is administered to said Hunter and provides us the powers that we are so bestowed with.”
I waited for her to continue.
“The Kaldr portion of the Trinity Serum prevents us from being glamoured by creatures such as you,” Scarlet said. “The Howler DNA gives us our strength, speed, and the ability to recover from wounds far quicker than a regular human would.”
“And the Sanguine?” I asked.
“Prevents us from being turned into vampires.” She paused here, as though waiting for me to say something further, then settled down opposite me at the circular dining room table and looked me straight in the eyes. “Becoming a Hunter isn’t something that people do willingly. It’s usually done after something catastrophic’s happened in one’s life—”
“—which something has,” I interrupted.
“Beyond losing a boyfriend of a few months.”
I blinked, stunned.
Had she really just said what I thought she had?
“Scarlet,” I started.
“Look,” she said, cutting me off before I could continue. “I get that you had a thing for Guy. I know you did. But let’s be honest—he wasn’t the love of your life.”
“How do you—”
“You knew him for, what? Two months, three max?” She shook her head. “You can’t fall in love with someone that quickly. I mean, yeah—you were into each other, and he did a lot for you, including pulled you off the streets—”
“How do you—”
“Let’s just say I know more than my fair share about you,” she replied. “Look, Jason: even if they could administer the Trinity Serum to you—which, I’ll remind you, they can’t—all Hunters undergo rigorous training and then must pass a series of tests in order to prove that they’re capable of performing the tasks they’re expected to carry out. I barely made it through my training. It nearly killed me. But I had to do it—”
“Why?” I asked.
&n
bsp; “That’s my business and my business only.”
“Ok,” I replied, drumming my fingers along the edge of the table. “So what do you expect me to do? Just sit and wallow in my despair? Try and go on living my life knowing that I’m the one who got him killed?”
“You didn’t get anyone killed,” Scarlet said. “If anything, I should have refused to take the three of you to San Antonio. It was a bad call of judgment on my part, and I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I mumbled.
“To answer your question,” Scarlet said after a moment’s consideration, “there’s not really much you can do at this point. You have to move on—or at least find a way to do so without driving yourself insane. I know it’s not easy, but it’s doable. Although…”
“Although… what?” I asked, leaning forward to face her. “Scarlet—what aren’t you telling me?”
She considered me with her dark black eyes—with an inscrutable stare I found absolutely chilling in light of everything that had been proposed and discussed—and waited for her to speak further. Blood rushed through my ears and my heart skipped several beats over the idea that there was something—anything—I could do to avenge Guy’s death. When she didn’t reply, though, and when she just continued to stare, I began to lose all hope.
A short moment later, she sighed.
“What?” I asked.
“You might be able to come into the Agency as an Agent,” she replied.
“An Agent?” I asked.
“Someone who helps investigate paranormal activity,” she said. “Kind of like a detective—a watcher, per se, who examines a situation and then reports back to the Agency so Hunters can run interference.”
“You really think they would accept me?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” Scarlet said. “That would be up to the Executive Board of Directors to decide—although if you ask me, having a Kaldr as an Agent wouldn’t be a half-bad idea. I mean, you can glamour people, right?”
“I’m… not sure,” I replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever done it before.”
Scarlet laughed. “Boy,” she said. “You sure are green, aren’t you?”
I didn’t say anything. I merely stared.
With a nod, Scarlet rose from her place at the circular table and said, “Let me see what I can do to help get you a meeting with these people. I’m not going to promise anything—because right now, the chances of you gaining an audience are as good as you getting struck by lightning—but I’ll do my best to make your case known.”
“Thanks Scarlet,” I replied. “I really appreciate it.”
She didn’t say anything.
As I stood and made my way out of the camper, I couldn’t help but smile.
What Scarlet hadn’t realized was that my chances were better than even she thought.
I’d already been struck by lightning.
What more did I have to lose?
7
It took days for any response to come from the highest parts of the Agency. During this time, Aerick and I remained mostly in our room—mourning the loss of Guy and struggling to adapt to what the future may hold. With my high school teaching career looming within the next week-and-a-half and Aerick’s job on the butcher’s block due to our extended stay in Dallas, it was hard not to wonder if anything would happen.
When, I thought, will I hear back from them?
When finally I did, it was to a stalwart message that beckoned me with only one word: come.
Come.
While looking at the piece of paper—which had been conveniently slipped under our day in order to avoid any face-to-face contact—I tried to fathom what would happen when I finally met with the Executive Board of Directors and turned to face Aerick, whose eyes hadn’t left me since the invitation had arrived.
“Well?” the Howler asked.
“Well what?” I asked.
“Are you going to go?”
“Of course I’m going to go, Aerick. I have to do something.”
“And you’re sure about this?” the man asked. “I mean, potentially being an Agent and all.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because for one: you wouldn’t be at home a lot. And for two… well… what about your teaching career?”
“Damn my teaching career,” I replied. “Guy’s dead, the Sanguine may still be after us—”
“There’s no proof of that.”
“—and I need closure. Final closure.”
“You call killing every single Sanguine out there closure?”
I didn’t say anything. Rather, I slipped into my old socks and then my shoes and stood, not bothering to turn and face the man whose affections I held while making my way toward the door. When I felt a hand hit my shoulder, however, and Aerick’s fingers curl around my muscle, I stiffened, then tried to relax, but to no avail.
“You’re being impossible, Jason.”
“I—”
“You can’t turn your back on everything you’ve built—on everything you’ve managed to acquire since becoming a Kaldr.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” Aerick said. “Like I said—you’re being impossible; and, dare I say: ridiculous. This little witch—”
“Vampire.”
“—vampire hunt you have going on isn’t going to bring you any closure. Why?” Aerick asked. “Because it can’t. You can’t kill every single Sanguine. You can’t rid the world of them. They’re alien invaders, Jason, who’ve been here since the dawn of time. Even thinking about ridding the world of their scourge is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“Needles can be found in haystacks, Aerick.”
“Maybe so, but it’s damn near impossible.”
Instead of replying, I slipped out of his grasp and made my way toward the door.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Aerick asked.
“No.”
“Then maybe I should come with you.”
“I need to do this on my own, Aerick.”
“But—”
I shook my head.
His silence was the only answer I needed.
After reaching forward and taking hold of the doorknob, I let myself out of the room and stepped into the corridor.
His face—pained and stricken with confusion—haunted me as I made my way down the hallway.
8
I took the elevator to the highest floor of the Agency—marked simply in the passageway as The Operating Room. With my thumbs slung through my belt loops and my clammy palms itching for some kind of purchase, I balled my hands into fists time and time again as the elevator rose and I edged closer and closer to my presumed destiny. I wasn’t sure what would happen at that moment—or if anything would happen for that matter—but the closer I got, the more nervous I became.
“Gotta stay calm,” I mumbled to myself. “Gotta stay—”
The elevator dinged.
The door opened.
An immaculate white room—much like the lobby but with hanging chandeliers and a stunning panoramic window spread along the far wall—greeted me.
“Jason DePella,” a disembodied voice said.
I blinked, stunned as I spun my head about. The voice seemed to have come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, but just how exactly was that possible?
It isn’t, I wanted to say, but held my tongue as I stepped out of the elevator.
“Hello?” I asked. “Is anyone there?”
“Wait one moment,” the same voice replied.
I waited—frozen in place—as the sound of footsteps began to reverberate throughout the space.
At first I didn’t see anything except the empty white desk and the window which looked out at downtown Dallas. After a moment, however, an imposing figure of some six-and-a-half feet appeared from around the corner, equipped in what appeared to be medieval armor. Lance in hand, helmed face unable to be seen, it lifted its free hand and beckoned me.
Come.
“Come,” it said, its voice a monotonous drone.
I stepped forward—more afraid now than I had been in my entire life—and approached with foolhardy confidence I felt was necessary in the face of what was undoubtedly the most intimidating being I had ever seen. The closer I drew, the more convinced I was that this creature—be it a man, a woman, or something in-between—did not actually possess a body within its armored shell. Its movements were too stiff, its functions performed in too mechanical a manner. The idea that this was actually a magicked item that did not possess a human or other creature inside was enough to make me shudder.
I knew so much yet understood so little.
If these were what the Agency employed as top-level guards, then what else might be lurking upon this floor?
With a shake of my head, I continued to follow the being—which I’d concluded was nothing more than an autonomous suit of armor—around the corner and toward a pair of inscribed double doors that bore along their ebony surfaces images of dragons, angels, demons and other wicked and holy creatures.
“They are waiting,” the disembodied voice said.
“They?” I asked.
“The Directors.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded as I stepped forward.
The moment my hands touched the wrought-iron bars separating me from the Executive Board of Directors, I felt something akin to a premonition—one which bid me ill will even though I’d yet to come face-to-face with anyone.
I pulled the door open.
Darkness greeted me.
I stepped inside.
A light came on.
Arranged within the middle of the room was a single long table, at which sat a multitude of men and women who appeared to be completely human.
“Welcome,” the seven said in unison.
I shivered at the sound of their voices—so crystal clear and ominous—and nodded at each of them before standing ramrod straight.
“You know why I’m here,” I said before they could say anything in my place.
“Yes,” a woman—whom I at first hadn’t recognized but eventually came to see was none other than Archivist Amelia Vanderoof—replied. “We do.”
“Amelia,” I replied, swallowing. “I didn’t know you were on the board.”
