The Hunters

by Destiny Hawkins

  “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” I was right on the cliff now, and in only a few seconds, I rolled off.

  With a scream, I dropped through the cold air. I’m going to die…

  My heart pounded in my chest with every second that passed, and then my thoughts went straight to my parents. The two of them stood facing the hunters together, united as one, and they were fearless.

  “Protect your brother, sweetie.”

  I can’t do that if I’m dead.

  Continuing to reach out, I knew that I was too far from the edge to grab anything, but I felt in my heart that if I just tried hard enough―

  Snow from the cliff liquified as it shot out for my hand. It was freezing cold as it wrapped around my wrist, but I was grateful that it had saved me.

  I now hung from the cliff by some kind of water rope.

  Is this magic? It can’t be, but…

  Swallowing, I carefully pulled myself up the rope and back onto the mountain. Once safely over the edge, I looked over the cliff to see that the drop was through the clouds. Where ever I was, it was nowhere near the Hunters Dimension.

  I stood to my feet and backed away from the edge, then looked around to see if there was anyone around. As I continued to back away, I ran my hands over my arms, shivering. “Hello!?”

  My echoing voice was all that responded.

  “Where the hell am ―” I backed into something tall and hard and jumped back on the defensive, but when I turned around, I found that I was facing a brown wooden door. There was no doorknob, so there was no way of opening it, but there was something gold glowing on the upper half.

  I frowned as I tried to understand the golden markings on the door. They looked like something I’ve seen before, maybe in a dream, but I still couldn’t figure out exactly what the design represented.

  It kind of looked like a star with a circle around it, but the inside was filled with swirls that interconnected and even left the star to connect with the circle. Tilting my head to the side, the swirls actually looked like some kind of map.

  I reached out to touch the markings, but the moment that I was about to touch them, the door disappeared, and I was back in my room.

  “Beatrice,” I jumped when I heard Willow’s voice come from the end of my bed.

  When I raised my head to look, I found her and Ariqe standing there hooded as hunters. Cas stood quietly in my doorway. “What’s going on?”

  Willow’s eyes smiled back at me. “We have a mission.”

  Chapter Five: The Right Thing

  I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but the moment that I pulled my hood over my head and pulled my cloth up over my nose, I began to feel uneasy. Like I was about to do something immoral. I didn’t get how I could feel this way after years of training, learning, and even teaching this to my little brother. How could protecting the world feel wrong?

  I stood in my bedroom with my eyes focused on the mirror. My black stripe had appeared in the center of my face, and a dagger took form in my hand.

  “You ready?” Willow asked.

  I turned to face the others and nodded. My eyes made contact with Cas’, who then stepped into my bedroom with his sword in hand.

  “Let’s make this quick,” he sighed. “There was magic detected at a home somewhere in France. I have its coordinates.” Looking back up at me, he clenched his teeth and held out his hand. Everyone but me placed their hands on top of his.

  Ariqe turned to me, his eye cold and still. “Is everything alright, Beatrice?”

  I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, sure. It’s just been a while.”

  I brought my eyes back to Cas’ soft ones before placing my hand on top of Willow’s.

  Cas nodded before teleporting us to the back of a mansion in the country somewhere.

  Willow snatched her hand from under mine and rubbed over it. “Why the hell are your hands so cold?”

  My eyes widened, my mind going back to the snowy mountain, then I shrugged. “No idea.”

  I then swallowed and turned to Cas for instructions.

  Cas licked his lips. “There’s a family of four inside. Two twin boys, a mother, and a father. We’re here to capture them all, so no killing if we don’t have to.”

  I drew my eyebrows together. “What happens to them after we capture them?”

  Asking that was like asking what happened to my mother. This entire situation was similar to when the hunters took my parents and brought us in, only the twins in this house weren’t half breeds like me and Bradly. That would mean that they’d suffer the same fate as all the other witches and wizards ―Whatever that was. But they were just kids.

  My stomach turned at the thought of breaking a family a part like that group of hunters did ours. I was about to do the very thing that changed mine and Bradly’s lives forever, only I didn’t know if we would be taking their lives instead. Cas may have said that we didn’t want to kill them, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be executed in the Hunters Dimension, because no one knew what happened to the witches and wizards once they were brought in.

  Cas licked his lips. “That’s something that you would have to ask my father.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means that I don’t know,” Cas snapped.

  “Oh…”

  Cas wasn’t the type to snap at people. Especially not at me, and now that I was really looking at him, I noticed that he didn’t look all too sure about this mission himself. He was panting, tense, and was even breaking a sweat. For someone that was always confident, he was displaying the complete opposite of the word.

  “Alright.” Cas tightened his grip around his sword. “In and out. Capture, not kill. Only kill if you have to. You got that guys?”

  The three of us nodded.

  Willow was the first to step forward with her bow in hand. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

  She teleported inside first, and Ariqe was right behind her. Cas and I both hesitated and looked at each other, but then were both startled when we heard a crash and saw a flash of purple light.

  I started panting and formed my second dagger in my free hand. “They knew we were coming.”

  “Shit!” Cas teleported inside, then another flash of light occurred on the second floor, only this one was blue.

  “Cas!” I braced myself and teleported myself to the second floor. The moment that my feet appeared on the soft carpet, a small blue ball of light shot in my direction. Luckily, I had fast reflexes and ducked, then flung one of my daggers at the wizard in the doorway, but he disappeared.

  The ball of light that passed over my head exploded against the wall, only doing a little damage, but not enough to blow the wall out. Against me though? It probably would’ve put a nice gaping hole in my body.

  Looking from left to right, I couldn’t find Cas anywhere, but I did find suitcases and black bags full of clothes. The room was practically flipped upside down.

  They really knew we were coming.

  And just like Triana, Felix, and Raven, they were only trying to get away from us.

  “Ariqe!” I heard Willow yell.

  I took a deep breath and ran for the hallway. Bad guys or not, I had to help my friends and complete the mission. I was part hunter, after all.

  Sliding into the hall, I slammed into the wall, just barely dodging a purple ball of light. Looking back, I saw Ariqe dodge it as well.

  Ariqe’s eyes widened. “In front of you!”

  Whipping back around, a powerful ray of purple light was aimed right for me. I didn’t have time to move out of the way, so I did all that I could think of and raised my dagger, then formed a second one in my free hand and created an X. The ray of light hit my daggers, and surprisingly, they were working as a shield.

  When I looked up, I saw the woman wearing a violet cloak with white fur around the hood, reminding me of my mother’s. Her furious eyes glowed a bright pink, just like the pink stripe in the center of her face, telling me that s
he was from Coven Pink. They were well known for their strength.

  I gritted my teeth. “I’m sorry.”

  Breaking my daggers apart, I nullified her ray of light, then threw my dagger at her, but she only blocked it with the staff in her hand. That’s when I threw another, and another, and another, back to back, while closing in on her.

  “You aren’t taking us!” the woman yelled before slamming the bottom of her staff onto the floor.

  The wooden floor below us began to wobble and sway like the ocean water, knocking Ariqe and me back and forth between the walls, then she ran off.

  Ariqe growled before chasing after her. He tripped and stumbled, but when he wanted something, nothing could stop him from getting it.

  I slammed my shoulder into the wall for the fiftieth time before taking a deep breath and teleporting into what I thought was the kitchen.

  I didn’t know how, but every time I teleported I seemed to end up right in the line of fire.

  “Dammit, B. Duck!” I heard Willow yell.

  My eyes widened when I faced a flame in the form of a Chinese dragon shooting at me. A second later, I was tackled onto the floor by Willow.

  “What is going on with you!?” Willow yelled. When she looked over her shoulder she rolled flat onto her back for the dragon to pass over us. Once it passed, she jumped up. “Move, now!”

  When Willow and I both got to our feet, we saw that the dragon had curved around and was headed straight for us. That’s when I formed another dagger and threw it at the dragon, causing it to disperse into nothing.

  Willow frowned. “How’d you do that?”

  Before I could answer, a flurry of red balls of light were aimed right for us, but instead of dodging, I teleported to another part of the house. I only hoped that Willow did the same.

  Taking a deep breath, I doubled over. Sweat drizzled down the sides of my face and dripped from my chin. What the hell am I doing?

  “But…but I’m scared. What’s happening?” I heard a little boy cry.

  When I looked up, I noticed that I was standing in the basement, and the little boys’ voice was coming from just around the stairway.

  “Don’t worry,” I heard Cas whisper. “It’ll all be okay.”

  Slowly walking around the stairway, I found Cas standing outside an open door that was right beneath the staircase. The little boys’ sniffling came from inside of it.

  “Cas?” I whispered.

  When Cas turned to me, I saw that his face mask was pulled down. Even in the dark, his eyes were soft.

  “Cas, what are you doing?” I asked walking over to him. Looking inside the small closet, I found two little boys about the age of six in their pajamas huddled up on the floor.

  Cas smiled down at the boys while answering me. “I’m being the good guy for once.”

  The little boys sniffled and held onto each other. It was clear that the one with light brown hair was the tougher one of the two. They were identical in the face with slightly different shades of hair.

  I licked my lips as I stared down at the two wizards. Cas was making a decision to help them, and frankly, I didn’t want to make these boys prisoners, so I decided to go along with Cas’ idea. “Protect your brother.”

  The light-haired boy wiped his eyes and nodded before wrapping his arms back around his brother.

  Cas pulled up his face mask. “Don’t come out of here and don’t make a sound until sunrise, okay.”

  The protective brother nodded.

  Cas nodded back before gently shutting the door.

  “Hey! B.! Cas!?” Willow yelled from above.

  “Looks like they got them,” Cas sighed.

  I gently placed my hand over the door. “They’ll have to grow up without parents. Like me and Bradly. Are you sure that this is the right thing, Cas?”

  Cas rolled his shoulders. “It’s the best that we can do.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s meet the others.”

  I nodded before hesitantly taking his warm hand, then the two of us teleported to the back yard.

  Cas looked over his shoulder at the house. “Guys, we’re out here!”

  Minutes later, Ariqe came out holding the woman, and Willow came out holding the man. The four of them together looked beat up.

  Willow frowned when she spotted us. “I thought you said there were two kids here?”

  The man and woman both looked at us with wide sad eyes, like they had just lost the both of their children. Technically they did, but not in the way that they thought.

  Cas cleared his throat, but I was the one who spoke. “We couldn’t find them. I don’t think that they were here.”

  Ariqe gritted his teeth. “What?”

  Cas raised his chin. “They aren’t here. They were in the report, but nowhere to be found in the house.”

  My eyes met the woman’s before she spoke up. “We―we knew that you were coming so we sent them away. When one of our sons accidently used his magic, we sent them both away and tried to pack everything we could. They aren’t here.”

  Ariqe grunted. “Well, where are they?”

  The man smirked and turned to him. “Why would we ever tell you that?”

  Willow shook her head. “Without the kids, we fail our mission. Dammit.”

  The thought of failing never made me want to smile more, but I kept my lips in a straight line. For the first time in a while, it felt like I had done something right.

  Cas glanced at me before facing the others. “It’s not a fail if they sent them off before our arrival. Now, come on. Let’s get back.”

  The man looked at Cas with clenched teeth. His eyes were saying thank you, but they were also filled with sadness. Even though their boys got to live free, they had to do it without their parents.

  That part of this situation was what felt wrong, and there was nothing that I could do to make it right. I had done all that I could’ve done.

  At least that’s what I told myself.

  Chapter Six: Choices and Consequences

  “These are the captures?” King Ohauris asked.

  Cas stepped forward. “Yes, Father. This is the Witch and the Wizard that we captured on our mission.”

  King Ohauris raised a brow. “And where are the boys?”

  Cas took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders. “They weren’t there, Sir.”

  King Ohauris and Cas locked eyes before the king turned to me. He didn’t say anything, but I could read the skepticism in his eyes. “I see.” He stood from his seat. “Well, you’ve all done well. You’re dismissed. Take them away, guards.”

  As the guards began walking the couple away, Willow and Ariqe turned to leave with their heads bowed down. The two of them were really disappointed that they couldn’t capture a pair of little boys. It was disgusting.

  I watched as the couple was dragged down the hall before turning back to the king, who was walking away as well. “Wait, My king.”

  King Ohauris turned around to face me and Cas. “Beatrice?”

  I nervously licked my lips. “I was just wondering…What―what will you do with them?”

  “That is none of your concern, Beatrice.” He turned to walked away but stopped when I spoke again.

  “Then, what did you do with my mother?”

  Cas grabbed my arm. “Beatrice,” he warned.

  King Ohauris took a deep breath before facing me with cold eyes. “She was handled like all the other magic users that were captured. Why the sudden interest?”

  “I just,” I raised my chin. “I was just curious, My King. I had always known what happened of my father, but I was never told of what happened to my mother.”

  King Ohauris frowned. “Just know that she was punished for her crimes accordingly.”

  Cas nodded. “Thank you, Father. We’ll be going now.”

  King Ohauris nodded before turning around and walking away.

  I frowned down at Cas’ hand and yanked away from him. I didn’t mean to take my ang
er out on him, but I was frustrated. Where was my mother? Was she dead? Alive? And what would happen to that couple? They didn’t look like bad people, and they didn’t deserve whatever was coming to them.

  “I’m not going home yet,” I said, storming off down the hall.

  Cas sighed. “Beatrice!”

  I didn’t answer him and teleported to my next destination.

  ~The Hunters~

  I reached out and grabbed the cell bars. “Hey, Dad.”

  My father sat in the same position that he always did and faced the wall.

  “I just came to stop by and say hello.” I looked down. “I figured that no one has talked to you in a while.”

  He remained silent.

  “Right. You don’t talk anymore.” I sighed but tried to smile. “You know, I think I can understand you now. Like, why you fell for mom.” I thought of her smile, surprised that I could even remember it. “She wasn’t a bad person, was she? Witches…they weren’t what you thought they were, huh?”

  Silence.

  “I just wanted to let you know that―that I did some good today. I did what I thought was right.” I backed away from the bars with tears welling in my eyes. I wished that he would just talk to me. “If you can hear me, I hope that you can be proud.”

  His head only slightly raised, but he still didn’t utter a word.

  I bit my lower lip. “I love you, Dad. Bye.”

  My lips trembled as I walked away from his cell bars, but just as I was about to fall apart, I heard a woman call my name.

  Stopping, I turned to see Ms. Jones in her own cell dressed in the same jeans and white t-shirt as when she arrived, only now she wore iron cuffs around her wrists that kept her from using her powers. She had smudges of dirt on her cheeks, and her hair was in a knotty bun on top of her head, but even through all the muck, she looked like a beautiful mess.

  “Ms. Jones?”

  Ms. Jones walked over to the bars. She looked exhausted, but for some reason, there was a slight smile on her face. “Did you really do it?”

  I drew my eyebrows together in question. “Do what?”

  “What you thought was right?”