The Hunt

chapter 19

Abominations are a blight and termination is necessary for the safety of the human race. Prevention of cross breeding between humans and other species is of the utmost importance in keeping humans pure and untouched. Early day hunters made the most headway in keeping Abominations from becoming the norm. During some of the very first hunts, the goal was to locate Abominations and their kin, disposing of them to keep the spread down. After many generations we have managed to eradicate the existence of Abominations through speciecide of most supernatural species and regulations on remaining packs.

Hunter’s Codex, Hunters code of conduct pg. 926

    I was drained. Physically, emotionally, mentally. My face was planted firmly against one of my pillows, making it hard to breathe, as my arms and legs sprawled out across the mattress. 24 hours. That’s the amount of time that passed since I last spoke to Will and it was draining. In a terrifying way. 
    It was Monday, well into the day and I skipped classes. Waking up this morning to feel like I had just climbed a mountain without a day's rest for a week straight is what made the decision for me. To top it off I was having a bad case of the blues as my grandma used to say. 
    Waking up took the better part of my morning, if that’s what we’re going to call it, really it was just me deciding to finally climb out of bed after having tossed and turned all night. I had made my way downstairs to grab an apple only to find Cassy never came back from her Aunt’s last night so I wasn’t the only one skipping classes.
     I groaned into the pillow and turned my head to the side, my eyes landing on the apple I grabbed a few hours ago, still uneaten.  “Do you know what’s wrong with me?” 
    The apple just sat there. 
    I really was going crazy, I thought back to how I invited Will into the shower with me, my face going beat red. That wasn’t me. The normal Michelle would never do something like that. She also wouldn’t fall head over heels for a guy who bought her a cup of coffee. Yet here I am, ready to jump his bones the moment he offers even though we just became ‘official’ barely 24 hours ago. 
    Maybe I do take after my grandparents more than I realized. 
    My inner monologue was interrupted by a quiet vibration going off in the midst of my sheets where I had lost my phone at some point in the night. I groaned as I rolled onto my side, no longer smothering myself, and began to dig around in search of the lost device. I found it near the foot of the bed and looked at the screen. One missed call, from Will.
    I sat straight, my heart skipping a beat. Letting out a deep breath, I gathered my nerves and selected his name in my phone. It rang once before he answered.
    “Hey.” 
    Just that one word wrapped around me like a blanket making me feel safe. 
    “Hi.” I said back.
    “I’m not interrupting your class am I?”
    “No, I’m actually at home. I skipped today.” I gathered my blankets around me and snuggled back into my pillow. Trying to pretend he was next to me talking instead of on the phone.
     “Are you feeling okay?” He asked, worry laced through his words.
    “Yeah I’m fine.” I jumped to answer. “Just had a hard time getting the energy to get out of bed this morning. Which I still haven’t managed to do.”
    A sigh rang through. Sounded like he didn’t get much sleep either. “Do you feel up to going somewhere this afternoon?” 
    “Where are we going?” 
    He sounded almost nervous when he responded. “Well, Caden and his…. Hang on.” The phone muffled for a second, Will’s voice in the background followed by another guy's voice. I couldn’t understand what they said but I very clearly heard a female say something in response before Will came back to the phone. “Caden and his fiance wanted to know if you wanted to do a double date. They would like to meet you.” 
    “Oh.” The jealousy I felt flare up when I heard a girl on the other side of the line was quenched instantly. Caden’s fiance. 
    It was when Will said something that I realized I hadn’t given an answer yet. “You can say no if you don’t want to.”
    “No, no, no.” I rushed the words out. “I mean, yes, I would like to and no, I don’t want to say no.” My words tumbled over themselves to try and let my brain catch up with it. 
    Will chuckled and the guy in the background, who I assume is Caden, said something that was too muffled for me to hear. “Steakhouse in town okay?”
    I was still processing that Will’s boss/best friend wanted to meet me and that he had a fiance. “Caden has a fiance? Sorry, I meant to say, yes, steakhouse works fine.”
    The faintest of giggles was heard in the background. I had to remind myself she was Caden’s fiance. 
    I could hear the smile on Will’s face when he answered back, “I’ll pick you up in a few hours then.” 
    “Okay, I’ll see you then.”
    He hesitated on the other line before quietly saying bye and hanging up. I wasn’t sure how to process the conversation just then, the only thing I could focus on was Caden had a fiance.