“Mercy, I’m sorry. Shit, I’m sorry. My dad sprung something on me this morning, and it made me totally forget about what happened last night. And I got in late and just crashed.” The sound of a muffled intercom voice echoed in the background. “Where are you?”
“At the hospital,” she hissed. “They don’t allow phones in here, so I’m hiding in the fricking hallway. You might wanna come down here and explain to us what the hell happened.”
My blood ran cold. “Why are you at the hospital?”
“Sam’s still unconscious. Look, I gotta go. If you feel like gracing us with your presence, Sam’s in Hope Ward. Bye.”
The phone went dead, and I stared at the handset for a few minutes trying to digest what she’d said. Sam was still unconscious. Because of me, and she knew that somehow. She’d figured out our attackers had only hurt them because they were with me.
How was I only thinking about my friends now? Hours after I’d woken? What was wrong with me? I shoved on my coat and raced out the front door. I had no idea what I’d say once I got there, but I’d deal with that then. Right now, I could barely breathe let alone plan an explanation.
I got to the hospital a little after eight and took the elevator to the second floor, eyes forward, body tense. Hospitals were the creepiest places on earth, miles ahead of cemeteries. Filled with nothing but suffering and death. The last time I’d made myself come to one was when my mother died.
It didn’t take me long to find Hope Ward. Sam was in a room with five other patients, all adult men, who watched me with different expressions as I walked in the room. Mercy, wedged in the back, spotted me first, and before I reached Sam’s bed, intercepted me.
“We should go and talk in the hallway,” she said.
“I want to see him.”
With a sigh, she stepped aside. I walked forward and forced myself to look at him. Sam still looked like himself, but he had a large bandage wrapped around his head, and a few wires hooked up to his body. For the most part, he looked as though he could have been asleep in his own bed. I picked up his hand and held it gently. His hand was so warm compared to mine.
“Where are his parents?” I asked.
Chuck avoided looking at me, so Mercy had to answer from by the door. “They were away visiting other family, but they’re on their way back now. Doctors won’t really tell us much because we’re not related. But they don’t seem worried or whatever.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
“Yeah. No thanks to you,” Chuck snapped.
I turned to stare at him, knowing I deserved that comment. “Chuck...”
“Save it, Amerie,” he said, standing up. “You’ve been hiding something from us all year. No matter how many times we ask, you brush us off. Then you start turning up with bruises and lame excuses about falling down stairs? You’ve obviously got yourself into some messed up shit, which is fine if you don’t want to tell us, but what crosses a line is when it screws with innocent people.”
It was as if he didn’t seem to include me as one of his friends anymore. His main concern was Sam, and not me. I could have been lying in a ditch all night, but that didn’t matter.
Nevertheless, he was right. I owed them an explanation.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. We’ll meet somewhere later and...”
“No,” Mercy said. She gestured to the hallway outside. “You tell us now, or you turn around and go home. Because I can’t take the secrets anymore.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s go out into the hallway.”
Mercy threw me my bag from yesterday and led the way and Chuck lagged behind leaving me in the middle with a lot of space surrounding me. I’d never felt more alone in my life than I didn’t at that moment. Not even when my mother had died and everyone claimed to know how I was doing, but really, they didn’t. The hallway was empty, save a few nurses who would scuttle past now and then. Mercy found a window ledge and folded herself into it. It reminded me of when we were younger and used to play ‘hide and seek’ in her house. Mercy always used to be able to fold herself into tiny gaps. She was always winning. Chuck kept his distance, leaning against a wall. I took a seat on an old radiator and longed for it actually to be working to combat the cold chill of the hospital.
When no one said anything, I realized I would have to start talking. “Well, to start, I guess you could say I’m not like you guys.”
“Damn right you’re not,” Chuck muttered. “We wouldn’t hide secrets that would get each other hurt.”
I whirled on him, my fists clenching. “Stop attacking me! I’m trying to explain. I don’t owe you an explanation, Chuck. Just because your parents give you everything your heart desires, doesn’t mean I will. And you wanna talk about being a good friend? Why haven’t you even asked about how I got away last night? Why haven’t you checked to see how I’m doing?”
“What have my parents got to do with your bullshit? And last I saw, you weren’t the one lying in a hospital bed unconscious.”
“Guys,” Mercy said tiredly. “Stop fighting and keep your voices down. I’m not getting thrown out of here because you two can’t keep your emotions in check.”
Neither of us said anything for a moment.
“I don’t know what you think I’m involved in, but I can promise whatever you think is wrong. I don’t owe anyone money. I’m not on drugs. I’m not in a gang. I didn’t choose the way my life has become. I tried to quit and but it won’t let me go.”
Mercy raised an eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to elaborate. I have no idea what you mean.”
“Those guys in the car park yesterday? Not human. Well, at least not all human.” I paused, watching the disbelief flood through each of their features. “Look, if I tell you this, you have to swear not to breathe a word to anyone. Whether you believe me or not. Okay?”
“Not human. Really,” Mercy said coolly.
“Okay, fine, don’t believe me.”
“Mercy let her tell her story. I’m interested to hear what she’s going to say.”
“You know what, screw the lot of you,” I hissed. I turned to walk away.
“Chuck, calm down. Amerie, wait,” Mercy called. “I’m sorry. It’s just…not human? It’s a bit much for us to believe. You have to give us a second to decide if we believe you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“So if they’re not human, what are they?” Mercy asked, and I let out a grateful sigh. At least she was entertaining my story – whether she believed it or not.
“We call them, Damned. Souls of bad people who die. The good ones go to heaven after death. The bad...don’t. Somehow, those bad ones find ways of escaping Hell, and they come back to Earth through gateways - usually in graveyards. Some of them are lucky enough to find human hosts they can possess. It’s complicated, how it works, but the ones who do make it to a human body are the ones you need to worry about more. They’re evil, dangerous, and it’s my job to send that evil soul back to Hell and give the human they possess control of their own body back.”
If possible, the disbelief on each of their faces had grown.
“What the fu-” Chuck started just as Mercy said, “Huh?”
“It sounds crazy, but think about what you saw last night, think about what you said yourself. Think about it. How strong those people were and how strong I was. You did not imagine that, and I’m not making this up.”
“Okay, yeah they were strong. But you expect me to believe they’re not fully human? That’s crazy talk, Amerie, even if you can’t really explain it...” Mercy said.
“So what else is there to say?” I demanded.
“Maybe they were high on drugs,” Chuck said with a shrug.
“Wait...” I frowned in frustration and stared around for something I could use to back up my story. There was a broken phone on the wall beside me, so I stood up and tore the phone box from the wall easily. It satisfied me when both their eyes widened in shock.
“H
ow...how did you do that?” Chuck gaped.
“I told you, I’m super strong. I have enhanced senses, and I heal faster. Like way faster. I also don’t feel pain as much as you or Mercy might. If you hit me with a hammer, it would hurt, but it wouldn’t stop me from fighting. I’d just keep going.” I set the phone box on the floor gently. “It comes with the job.”
“The job?” Mercy’s voice was faint. It was lucky she was sitting down.
“Yes – I send the soul back, remember? Trust me, I didn’t pick this. I’d much rather sit back and let someone else do it. But my mum was a Hunter, and her mum before that and so on. All around the world there are families like mine. Hunter bloodlines. Every girl born into that bloodline becomes one. Whether she wants it or not. Your mother, if she’s still alive, becomes your mentor. She teaches you early. Gets you ready. Then when you’re sixteen, you’re a full-fledged Hunter.”
“Why sixteen?” Mercy asked. I couldn’t be sure if she fully believed me, but at least if they were asking me questions and listening, they weren’t tearing my head off anymore.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess when you’re sixteen, your body is developed enough to handle the power you get.”
“So, erm,” Chuck started, pushing away from the wall. “How d’you send these souls back to, erm, Hell?”
“It’s complicated.” I grimaced, unsure of how to put it. “Okay, think of it this way. There’s one body, but two Souls inside. The human body isn’t invincible, but if a Damned is inside, it’ll become like me. It’ll heal faster. If you shoot the body, though, the person it was before dies and the Damned just goes back to the graveyard to repeat the process. You gotta do it properly.”
“Which is...?” he pressed.
“We have Blessed weapons. If you use a Blessed weapon, it doesn’t hurt the body, only the Damned soul. It sends the soul right back to Hell, no switching bodies, and no collecting two hundred pounds when you pass ‘Go’. Only if they’re possessed. Stab a regular person and it’s just like any knife.”
There were a few moments of silence until Chuck blew out a long breath. “I don’t know how to take this.”
“I’m finally telling you the truth,” I said, sitting back on the radiator. “You can choose not to believe me, if that’s what makes you happy.”
“The truth is what makes me happy,” Mercy said. “Those times when I call in the evenings and you don’t answer...?”
“Mostly because I’m roaming around a graveyard somewhere. It sounds weirder than it is. I just get the urge to go sometimes, because of what lurks there and who I am. But I haven’t been going as much since I quit.”
“You quit?” Mercy sounded incredulous. “Let’s just say I believe you, which I’m not sure I do. Wouldn’t your job be, like, saving the world? Why would you quit that?”
“Because being a Hunter was what got my mum killed.” I sighed, staring down at my hands. “On the night before my sixteenth birthday, she went out on a Hunt and didn’t come back. She went even when I begged her not to go. I refuse to die that way. Quitting is the only way I thought I could do to control that.”
When I looked back up, Mercy had moved closer and was now standing beside me. She looked as though she was deliberating something. Finally, she knelt beside me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. I leaned my head in the crook of her neck and closed my eyes at the contact.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I shouted at you earlier.”
“You had every right to be angry at me.” I opened my eyes and looked up at her. “Do you believe me?”
She hesitated. “Yes and no. Obviously, something is going on here. I just...need some time to process things. You understand, right?”
“Yeah, yeah of course.”
“Have you still quit your, erm, job?” she asked, standing up straight again.
“I’m back in it for the moment, because there’s something I need to sort out. But once that’s done, then I’m going back to normality.”
“Oh. Well, we should get back in and sit with Sam in case he wakes up. Thanks for finally opening up to us, Amerie, even if your story makes you sound like a wack job,” Mercy said softly.
I forced a smile. “If it were up to me, I would have told you a long time ago.”
“So why didn’t you?” Chuck asked.
“Because there’s this...group... called The Sisterhood, and they’re like these really powerful three old ladies, who sit on their proverbial thrones and make up all these stupid rules. I’m not even allowed to tell my dad or brother. That’s how ridiculous this all is.”
“In that case, thanks for telling us.” She smiled kindly before disappearing through the ward door. Chuck moved to follow, but I stopped him, blocking Chuck’s route.
We were face to face. I stared up into his eyes, trying to read what was behind them. “Talk to me,” I pleaded.
His hand reached up to trace a finger lightly across a new cut I had on my forehead. “I knew you hadn’t fallen down the stairs.”
I smiled as he pulled me in for a hug. “Do you believe me?”
“I think I do. You seem to believe it, and it sounds too confusing to be made up.”
I let out a huge sigh of relief. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”
“Let’s go be there for Sam,” he said, pulling back. “He needs us right now.”
“He’s lucky to have you and Mercy,” I said, mainly to myself. “I sure am.”
They threw us out of the hospital around lunchtime, just as Sam began to regain consciousness. Though we tried hard to argue our case to stay by Sam’s side, the nurses told us that rules were rules, and we had to go. So with no other motive, we headed back to school, thoroughly depressed that we didn’t get the opportunity to talk to him.
Since we’d missed half the day, we missed the school assembly informing the students about the police investigation. In other words, the school had to make it look as though they were taking the ‘break in’ very seriously, so that parents wouldn’t stop handing out bucket loads of cash to the school every year. Like I expected, the police ruled the crime as vandalism and by the time Chuck, Mercy, and me got to school, everything had already been repaired or replaced. It was as if it never happened.
I was constantly on edge, though. All I could think about was my secret being so out in the open. Would they punish me? Would The Sisterhood find out? I mean, there had to be some repercussions for breaking this kind of rule; otherwise, everyone would do it. Right?
By the time that the bell rang, and everyone darted out the door to freedom, I had convinced myself that I didn’t care. Let The Sisterhood find and punish me. I didn’t want to do this stupid job anyway. If I had to, I’d rather my friends support me, then go it alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Clash
My shift at The Hut passed quickly. Chuck and Mercy didn’t show, but they did text to say they’d gone to see Sam at the hospital again. It was fair enough, although I couldn’t deny that I was irritated that I had to work while they didn’t. I mean, Sam was my friend too, and being around me was what put him in the hospital. I needed to see him, and try to explain. It would have to wait until tomorrow, though. Visiting hours would be over once my shift was done.
Marshall waited while I finished my shift; he and a couple friends played pool, Every now and again, I’d look over to Marshall and he’d be staring right back, as if our bodies were synched. Maybe they were. Now that I knew he was technically a Hunter, too.
“You ready?” Marshall asked as I shoved my apron into my locker.
I jumped, spinning around to confront him. “You’re not actually staff, Marshall. You shouldn’t be in here.” I slammed the locker shut behind me, and bent to pick up my bag.
“Ah, technicalities,” Marshall said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “John lets me go wherever the hell I want. It’s a good life. I can’t complain.” His eyes roamed over my body, assessing – hopefully – my train
ing outfit. I looked down at my leggings, oversized hoodie, and Nikes.
“This okay?” I demanded.
“It’s fine.” He moved forward and brushed a hand over my bare shoulder. “Is your hoodie supposed to fall down like this? Or is it too big for you?”
“A little of both,” I admitted. “It’s cut that way but...” I stopped, seeing the uninterested look on his face. “Let’s just go.”
“Lead the way, milady.”
“I’m not your lady.”
He chuckled and together we headed to the car park. Considering the Porsche was smashed to pieces at the bottom of a lake somewhere, I hadn’t expected him to have another car quite so soon. He was severely kidding himself if he thought I was getting back on that motorbike again.
The car he led me to wasn’t quite as flashy as the Porsche, but it was still nice. A sporty little Honda with leather seating and a TV/stereo system. I climbed into the passenger side and slid my hand over the clean dashboard.
“Yours?” I asked as he started the engine.
“Yup. I bought it.”
“How? You don’t even work.”
“I have other ways of making money,” he said, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, choosing to stare out of the window. I thought I pretty much knew the area where The Hut was situated, but Marshall was taking us through all these little back roads between towering buildings that I’d never seen before. After ten minutes, he parked in front of a darkened dilapidated building and shut the engine off.
“We here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes in confusion.
“Yep.” He threw open his car door and reluctantly, I followed him. “You look uneasy.”
“I don’t see how we can train here.”
“You still don’t trust me.” He frowned. “You’ll grow to trust me, Amerie. Once you see what I’ve done inside.”
“There better not be any cheesy trails of flower petals or romantic music playing,” I warned, only half joking.
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