Her Dark Destiny (Hunters of the Dark #1)

by Dave Ferraro

  ***

  “Nice place,” Jordan commented as Shanna led him into her one-bedroom apartment.

  “Thanks,” Shanna mumbled. She headed for her room right away and threw open a duffel bag, her actions exaggerated as if they could distract her from acknowledging the place she would be leaving behind.

  “You have a lot of stuff,” Jordan observed, taking in the mountains of books and the towers of DVDs. “Are you sure you can pack in ten minutes?” He paused as he noticed a photograph on an end table: A group of girls smiling in front of a lifeguard tower. Shanna was on the far right, looking as normal as any of the others. Next to this photo was a professional picture of a man and woman posed formally with a little girl between them. Was that Shanna in the little white dress with the crooked smile? He stared at the woman in the photograph. She was beautiful, very alike to Shanna as she was now. Same slender nose, same fiery eyes.

  “I’ll grab what I can, I guess. And I have to leave a note for my aunt. I…owe her that much.”

  Nodding, Jordan walked over to the cramped kitchen. He stared over the tidy pile of dishes at a map of the area. Red, green and yellow tacks were placed strategically over the map, a constellation that meant nothing to an outsider, but Jordan was sure it was a tool she used for her hunting.

  He let out a sigh as he wandered into the living room at the same time as Shanna.

  Shanna gazed around the room and smiled thinly, unable to ignore her predicament, after all. “This was my life, you know. This little apartment. I was such a loner. I could have had plenty of friends, I was in so many school activities, but...I didn’t want them. The only one who made a serious effort was Kelly. And now she’s gone.” She gazed over the room, imagining herself on the loveseat watching television, eating frozen yogurt as she often did after a night of hunting. Kelly was the only person who’d ever really seen this place. She would come over for an occasional sleep-over or movie marathon. Every Halloween, they’d rent one of those horror series that ran for longer than they should have and stayed up until dawn, shaky from too much caffeine and sugar. And Kelly would always invite her over for Christmas dinner with her family, even though Shanna never went. And then Kelly would come over later in the evening with a present and watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with her anyway.

  Shanna looked away as she felt tears building behind her eyes, unwilling to let Jordan see her break down. Again. “You know, I’m going to take a quick shower. I’m covered in blood and gore. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

  Watching her with a look of sympathy, Jordan nodded. “Take your time.” He turned and swept his eyes over the room as he heard the shower commence, his eyes stopping on a large bookshelf. He fingered the graphic novels he found there as he read them off to himself. Artesia, Birds of Prey, Black Hole, Bone… He looked up and noticed a small statue on top of the bookshelf. A brunette girl in blue walking like a specter through a wall. A small purple dragon sat atop the wall, staring down at her.

  He gave pause when he thought he heard a sob escape from the bathroom, but tried to ignore it, give her some privacy. She was about to leave her life behind, as minimal as it had been.

  Setting his bag down, he picked up a few of the books at random, flipping through their pages. He paused when he came across the same girl that was on the statue in Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga. He was able to read a few pages before he heard the shower come to a stop, whereupon he replaced it on the shelf, glancing over the other titles.

  “Valor seemed pretty excited,” Shanna related as she came out of the bathroom hastily dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair still damp. She set down a thick envelope on an end table and scribbled out a note on a piece of loose computer paper beside it. “I hope I don’t let anyone down. I’m not sure I’m the best at what I do.”

  “You’re fine,” Jordan told her. “And we could all use some professional training. I didn’t exactly learn to handle a machete in shop class, you know.”

  “I…yeah. I guess not. I just feel like I’m some amateur dancer going off to the Russian Ballet by accident. I feel so…out of my league.”

  “I think we all feel like that sometimes. Inadequate. But I think you’re pretty good.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. If you weren’t, I’d say you wouldn’t have survived that club.”

  Just thinking about the club made Shanna shudder. She was sure she’d have flashbacks about that giant raven for weeks.

  “Thanks for being so nice about everything, and...you know, encouraging me despite my temporary insanity bit.”

  “It’s fine,” Jordan assured her. “Really. If you didn’t freak out about things sometimes...you wouldn’t be human. It’s almost a relief to see it, that things get to people, that we don’t always have to be cold and hard.” He paused and smiled. “Just try to pick a more convenient moment next time.”

  Shanna laughed lightly.

  “But I’m being serious when I say that you’re a good fighter. You killed that thing in light of some heavy odds. You saw a friend die not an hour beforehand. You’re a strong person whether you realize it or not and, well, that spells potential in my book. In fact, I’d say you handled yourself like a real warrior, ready to charge back in there when you didn’t have to. That’s certainly not taking the easy way out.”

  Shanna nodded, thinking for a moment about how conveniently the silver lightning bolt had slid into her hand at the right, indeed vital, moment. She could take it as a sign or chalk it up to dumb luck, but either way...Jordan believed in her, and that was all she needed at the moment to tip the scales and follow through with her current, intimidating endeavor.

  She set her aunt’s note down on the table with finality and glanced over at Jordan as he returned to admiring her books. She thought sadly about how she’d have to leave them all behind. But she’d be able to buy them all again in no time, no doubt. Her duffel bag almost full, Shanna looked around for anything important she may have missed and nearly gasped when she looked over at her bed. Grabbing an old stuffed rabbit out of the sea of blankets, she placed it lovingly on top of the clothes she’d packed before tossing her wallet into the bag and zipping it closed.

  “I guess I’m ready,” Shanna mumbled, picking up her laptop case.

  Jordan nodded. “Okay.” He shifted his bag on his shoulder and followed her outside.

  After loading the jeep, Shanna paused to look at the brick building that she’d lived in since her parents’ demise so many years earlier. She couldn’t say there was much she was leaving behind, but going forth into anything new was difficult. The butterflies were gathering in her stomach already at the thought of disrupting her comfortable home life.

  Letting out a deep breath, she got into the jeep. Jordan and her exchanged looks before Shanna turned the key in the ignition and they began their journey toward their new home.

  ***

  “I’ve never ridden in a train before,” Shanna offered as they climbed aboard the train that would take them to New York, and claimed a room for their own, tired walls yawning mud brown. “I‘ve always thought that there’s something romantic about them.”

  “Well, they bring people together, tear them apart, and help build memories, depending on where they’re going,” Jordan observed, his words nearly lost beneath the commotion of the train’s banshee shriek.

  They loaded their luggage into overhead compartments and sat down across from each other on the brick-red polyester benches. A long voyage across half the country was exciting, but it was also a lot of waiting around with nothing to do. She reflected that she should have grabbed at least one book to pass the time.

  “So, when did you start hunting?” Shanna asked, watching Jordan’s face near the window, eyes sweeping out over the dark scenery that past them faster and faster each moment as the train accelerated.

  He glanced at her, then sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. “About four years now. I wouldn’t have las
ted nearly as long without my sister. I can definitely vouch for teamwork helping you survive.”

  “Oh,” Shanna sat up straighter. “I thought this team-up was unprecedented.”

  “It is,” Jordan assured her. “Never have hunters of different creatures come together to fight the darkness together. It’s very inspired. Me and Jade - we were a duo, hunting werewolves together after our parents died.” He glanced up at her. “And yes, my parents were killed by werewolves. It’s a cliché, I know, but this orphan seeks to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to other people. I won’t lie and say that I don’t feel a sense of satisfaction from killing each and every one of them.”

  Shanna shivered at the blunt words, and at how similar his story seemed to hers.

  “I’m the same,” she admitted. “Demons killed my parents when I was young, so I learned how to hunt and kill demons myself, to get revenge.”

  “And?”

  Shanna blinked. “And what?”

  “Did you ever get revenge?” He leaned forward, his eyes meeting hers with a hopeful glint in them, as if her success would somehow tip the score between monster and human.

  “I did,” Shanna confirmed, slowly nodding. “I got revenge and then…there was nothing else for me to do but keep doing it.”

  Jordan frowned and sat back. “It’s a worthy thing to do though. I can’t…I mean, me and Jade weren’t there for our parents’ death. We only recognized the…” He swallowed hard. “We only recognized the signs afterwards. We’ll never know if the werewolf we’re killing is the one who killed our parents or not, so we’re going to keep doing it until we hunt every last one of them down. Or die trying.”

  “Are there many werewolves?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jordan sighed. “Too many. And different varieties too. I’ll tell you about it sometime. If we’re not taught all about them at The Agency, that is. I’m sure they’d have to get around to it sooner or later.”

  “I’m sure,” Shanna agreed.

  Shanna stared up at the ceiling as she leaned back in her seat. The train rocked gently and provided all the white noise she needed to calm herself down for sleep. And it was late. But she was too nervous - nervous about what was to come. Nothing was ever going to be the same. Her life would hold almost no resemblance to the one she was leaving behind. It was a scary reality to face. Not that she hadn’t been alone before, but because it was void of her familiar surroundings - those little things that gave her comfort, like the lace curtains from her parents’ bedroom she’d hung over her bed, the Spider-Man figure that Kelly had given her as “kind of a joke, kind of not.” It was just sitting there on her nightstand, never to be visited by her eyes again.

  “Where are you from?” Shanna asked to continue the conversation, not trusting herself to be left alone to her thoughts just yet.

  Jordan shifted in his seat, leaning his head against the window sleepily. “I’m from New Jersey, actually. Not as big of a move for me as it is for you. Like I said before, I was just hunting this group down. That’s why I was in the Midwest.”

  “Oh. And how about your sister? Jade, was it? Where’s she?” The minute the question was out of her mouth, Shanna regretted it, frightened that perhaps his sister had been killed in combat and that was why he was traveling solo. But any doubt was put to rest the next moment as Jordan chuckled softly.

  “She went to Lime Bay ahead of me to get things ready for us. We’re a package deal, you know. Anyways, she has a lot of sensitive weaponry and crap that has to transported just so, under her care, or she’ll freak out. But she’s a riot. You’ll see when you meet her. We’re twins, actually.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, but we don’t really look too alike, so don’t be surprised when you see us together. We have similar features, we’re the same height...but that’s about the extent of our likeness. Otherwise, I’m blonde, she’s brunette. I have deep, tan skin, she has fair skin. It’s weird, but it’s how we turned out.”

  “I assume you’re close?”

  “Very close. I couldn’t imagine life without her. She’s...well, we disagree on some things, but for the most part, we see eye-to-eye and we can always count on each other for someone to listen to.”

  “Must be nice.”

  “It is.”

  Shanna returned her eyes to the ceiling and imagined having a sibling of her own. How would she have fared differently? She probably wouldn’t be so introverted, so cut off from society, preferring comic books to conversation with people, hiding her double-life. Having secrets like in the stories she read was more a part of her lifestyle than flesh and blood people with superfluous issues. She just couldn’t relate. But a sibling perhaps would have changed things, especially a twin. Perhaps her parents’ death wouldn’t have devastated her so. She may have even been able to move on.

  It wasn’t too much longer before Shanna heard Jordan’s shallow breathing deepen and she noted that he’d fallen fast asleep. She watched him leaning against the side of the train and worried that he would get a kink in his neck in that position. She chanced waking him and in a half-sleep, was able to coax him into lying down to resume his rest.

  That task accomplished, she sat down across from him and watched his chest rise and fall, and was comforted by the sound of his breathing. She was, however, just too wired to get any rest, no matter how hard she willed sleep to come. There was too much of an adventure at hand. Plus, she still felt kind of vulnerable, like she was being watched or followed. Although it was a silly fear, she couldn’t shake her feeling of dread.

  She stared out the window of the train and watched as the dark trees went by in a blur. Every once in awhile, a house with a weak porch light would pass and she’d strain to watch the light as it disappeared behind other scenery, drowned in the suffocating stillness of night.

  Shanna found herself wondering about the hunter that Valor said would board the train and meet them on their way to Lime Bay. In Ohio. Another person she would have to let into her life, that she would have to trust…probably with her very life. How many other hunters would there be? A dozen? Two dozen?

  Sighing, Shanna lay her head down and turned off the cabin light, watching the moonlight settle on Jordan’s face. He had beautiful, sensuous lips. Brian had had lips like that. She could only wonder at the feeling she would get from kissing them. Brian... He was someone she would have liked to know better, but he would have only been in the way of her life’s mission. Just like everyone else. What would he think when he heard of Kelly’s death? Of Shanna’s mysterious disappearance? What would anyone think?

  Shanna jumped suddenly and realized she’d fallen asleep for a moment or two. Had something woken her? The train jerked and she gasped, gazing around as her eyes readjusted to the dark. She realized they were slowing down as a muffled voice announced on an overhead speaker that they were in Cleveland.

  Cleveland? Shanna thought wildly. She must have been more tired than she’d realized. At least a couple of hours must have elapsed.

  Shanna groped the wall for the light switch like a child afraid of the dark, and squinted against the harsh light that invaded her eyes. She glanced over at Jordan, who was still sleeping soundly. There was a little damp spot where her head had just rested, which didn’t come as a surprise to her, as she’d slept soundly, no imposing dreams whatsoever.

  As soon as the train came to a complete stop, Shanna scooted over to the window to gaze out at the ugly orange light that illuminated the station. The only movement she could discern were of a couple of lonely newspapers that rustled in the wind as if phantom fingers were flipping through the pages. It was a lonely scene, like the place catered to ghosts and heart-broken souls, forever awaiting loved ones who would never step off the transport.

  Another five minutes and the train began to stir again, slowly accelerating with the excited screech of a whistle. Shanna wondered if there would be another stop in Ohio or if the hunter wasn’t ab
le to catch the train.

  “Oh, gosh,” Jordan lazily stretched out on his bench, his shirt riding up over his six-pack, drawing her eyes. “Did I sleep long?”

  “We’re leaving Cleveland right now,” Shanna informed him, trying not to stare. “Still no hunter, though.”

  Jordan shrugged. “She’ll turn up eventually.”

  “Have a nice nap?”

  “Yeah. Did you sleep at all?”

  “Yeah. I just sort of passed out, I guess.”

  The door to their cabin was flung open suddenly, as if by gale-force wind, an outline of a girl distinguishable beneath a burnt-out bulb, her features lost to shadow. The illuminated hall behind her yet glowed its sickly florescence, falling just right to color the edge of her hair in July poppy red, a halo of blood to announce an angel of death. Upon first glimpse, Shanna blanched at the sight, the red hair flaring across her mind in remembrance of Kelly. An apparition, perhaps? But no. The hair before her was a true red in contrast to the magma orange hue of her dear friend’s. She allowed herself a calming breath of relief as a suitcase slid in near her feet to fully announce the intrusion at hand. Tentatively moving her feet back, Shanna was struck by the girl as she stepped into the light, as if into a spotlight, lips and eyes ready with a brilliant greeting. Ivory skin radiated, as if drawing life from the brightness, accentuating a light spray of freckles splattered across her nose as if from an artist’s brush, freckles so miniscule that a tan would be able to cleverly hide them altogether.

  “Let me get that,” Jordan mumbled, holding the door open as the girl walked in with the gait of a royal, eyes sweeping the room in scrutiny.

  “Thank you,” the girl responded to Jordan, rewarding him with an acknowledging nod. “You wouldn’t happen to be Jordan, would you?”

  Jordan returned her smile eagerly. “The one and only. Nice to meet you.”

  “Charmed, I’m sure.” She raised an eyebrow at Shanna. “And you brought a date?”

  “I’m Shanna,” she stood and shook hands with the girl. “I was kind of a last minute…addition.”

  “I see. Hello, Shanna. Call me Amelia.” She lifted her suitcase and shoved it into an overhead compartment before frowning at her surroundings. “It’s so...red in here. Dark.” Stepping around Jordan, she slid open a window viciously, letting out a breath as the train’s ruckus increased ten-fold. “That’s infinitely better.” She gazed out of the window for a moment before turning toward them once more and taking a seat beside Shanna. “So, have you had a nice trip so far?” she asked.

  “I wasn’t conscious for most of it,” Jordan admitted. “But we’re glad you made it. We weren’t sure you would with the train starting and all.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Amelia said casually. “It just took longer than I anticipated to find you...and you,” she added with a look at Shanna. “And, truth be told, I can be a little paranoid at times. I kept doubling back in case I was being followed. Can’t be too cautious when you’re a rare breed, you know.”

  “You mean being a hunter?” Shanna asked.

  “Of course.”

  “And what do you hunt?” Shanna sat forward eagerly, wondering how many different monsters there possibly were to have an expertise in.

  Amelia crossed her legs casually and smiled. “Witches. Black magick users. But there are the occasional zombies and ghosts that come with the territory. You know how it is. How about you two?”

  “Werewolves,” Jordan revealed, “But I’ve dealt with other things too. Vampires, demons, ghouls. You know.”

  Amelia looked at Shanna expectantly.

  “I, um, hunt demons,” Shanna said. “I’ve killed some other things too. Earlier tonight, I killed a few shape-shifters. First time actually. And I…well, I saw my first vampire.”

  Shanna glanced up at Jordan, a little embarrassed to be talking about her night after he’d seen her break down in the middle of things.

  “Vampires are tough,” Amelia told her. “I dread a fight when they’re involved. But better them than werewolves. They’re supposed to be the worst.”

  Shanna shuddered. If they were any worse than shape-shifters, she really didn’t want to meet one.

  “Have you been to New York before?” Jordan asked, watching Amelia as she pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and glanced over the screen briefly. She entered in a brief text message before slipping it back into her jeans.

  “Sorry, Valor wanted to make sure I caught up with you guys,” Amelia said with a roll of her eyes. “New York…no, I’ve never been. I was on the East Coast once, in Boston, for a case. But that’s it. I usually try to avoid cities as much as possible.”

  “Why’s that?” Shanna wondered.

  Amelia shrugged. “I don’t care for the…busyness of it all, I guess. Too many people in too dense an area. I prefer the quiet of nature. Cities are ugly.” She paused. “Except for Seattle. I rather like Seattle. It’s very green.” She shook her head and turned to Jordan. “But I hear Lime Bay is a decent distance from the city anyway, so I’m not too worried. Anyway, what happened last night? Big fight?”

  “Something like that,” Jordan said. “A group called The Crimson Rope paid Minnesota a visit. They set up shop, had a feast and moved on to God only knows where.”

  “The Crimson Rope?” Amelia echoed.

  “Yeah. That’s what they’re called. Sometimes they’re a club, sometimes a restaurant, usually a rave, but it always ends the same. Lots of dead bodies. There’s a vampire I’ve been studying that might be involved. She’s always had the same sort of repertoire from way back in the days of the traveling shows and gypsies. Scarlet Fever.”

  Shanna cocked her head. “Her name’s Scarlet Fever?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s awesome!” Shanna laughed. “Like a codename. That reminds me of the X-Men movie when Wolverine’s making fun of everyone’s…well, I guess you had to be there.”

  “You don’t say,” Amelia smirked, amused.

  “And speaking of codenames, what’s with Valor? Did she...just come up with that name or what?”

  “Pretty haughty, if you ask me.”

  “I don’t know, you guys,” Jordan said. “Maybe she earned it?”

 

  Chapter Five