The Hunt

Chapter 22

There are many jobs among hunters. The most known being active hunters who engage in supernatural species, exterminating and culling defects. These hunters are knowledgeable in all forms of weaponry and techniques used to draw out and dispose of the various species. In a typical hunt there is always a tracker present as well. This is a hunter specialized in tracking and following the trails left behind by the prey. They spend their lives studying behavior and movement patterns in these supernatural creatures to make finding and disposing of them easier.

Hunter’s Codex, Hunter’s code of conduct pg. 734

    It was dark out before I could hear Chris’ car coming down the road. Michelle was sitting next to me working on some form of homework. I offered to help her but when she showed me a page full of lines and what she called music notes I backed out. Even if I wanted to help, I had no idea what was going on on that page. 
    She wasn’t aware that they were coming down the road, she was still lost in her work laid across her lap. We were sitting on the couch and she was chewing on her pen, tucked into my side while I watched TV. It was more like I was staring at the TV, not so much watching it. 
    It wasn’t until headlights flashed through the front windows before Michelle finally noticed they were here. I thought maybe with having some werewolf DNA she might have some form of heightened senses but it didn’t seem that way. 
    I could feel her tense almost immediately when a car door slammed shut outside, followed by another, softer, door shutting. 
    “Maybe this was a bad idea.” She mumbled.
    I moved my arm off her shoulders so we were just sitting together, not snuggling anymore. “Too late now. Unless you want me to go hide, but I think they already saw my truck.” 
    I could hear their conversation coming up the drive.
    “What the hell is he doing here?” The one who said that was most definitely Chris. Michelle wasn’t showing any signs of being aware of the conversation happening in the front yard. 
    “Chris, just chill. We’re taking care of it so play nice and don’t scare Michelle.” It was a female who spoke that time. Cassy. Her voice was firm when she spoke to him, like she was in control. 
    I heard him let out a growl at her response. “I’m not going to go in there and pretend to like that thing.” They were whispering to themselves but the way he said it sounded like he wanted to yell it from the rooftops.
    She sighed in response, almost like she was tired of dealing with him. “I didn’t say to like him, just to behave. Do your job. If you screw this up everything we worked for this week will be for nothing.” 
    Their voices were getting closer to the porch and Chris went to respond. Cassy cut him off with a quick ‘shh’. If it wasn’t for the fact that the plan Caden and I came up with required drawing more attention to myself, I probably would have hightaled it out of there. Dragging Michelle along with me of course. 
     The door swung open and the blonde haired girl that was with Michelle the day I saw her in town came walking through. Michelle’s heart started to race when she looked up from her work and saw them step in. 
    “Welcome back.” There was a tremor in her voice that I don’t think anyone else would have picked up on. 
    Cassy’s brown eyes locked onto me, I could feel them studying me, looking me up and down. “Glad to be back.” She responded, almost as an afterthought. 
Chris followed her in, his jaw clenched and glaring at me. 
    “How was y’all’s visit?” Michelle was trying so hard to keep the mood light. She was braver than I was. The feeling of ‘run’ was screaming through my veins in the presence of two hunters. 
    “It was good.” Cassy placed her jacket on the back of a chair pushed into the bar. “Whose this?” She turned to face us again, eyes scanning me once more.
    I stood to introduce myself and Chris’ entire body stiffened. I could smell the tension coming off of him. He thought I was going to attack. “I’m WIll.” I gave Cassy a smile and held out my hand. “Michelle’s boyfriend.” 
    Cassy stared at my hand for a moment before taking it in hers. “Nice to meet you, I’m Cassy.” 
    She gave me a tight smile and turned to her brother. He looked down at her, arguing with his eyes before finally giving up. “I’m Chris.” He didn’t offer to shake my hand and I didn’t offer mine. There was no guarantee that either of us would restrain ourselves if we were forced to make contact. 
    Michelle came up behind me, still trying to make nice between us. “I was thinking about ordering Chinese. Do y’all want some?” 
    Cassy began to relax, “Yeah. As much as I love my Aunt, her food is terrible.” She linked arms with Michelle and walked into the kitchen with her, falling into the best friend role with ease. 
    I walked past Chris to follow them into the kitchen and paused as I got closer, the tension and anger I was feeling rolling off of him was mixed with fear too. I couldn’t help myself and when I made eye contact with him he could see the confusion on my face. He was scared of me?
    Michelle’s eyes were following me as I made my way to lean against the bar in the kitchen, trying my best to stay calm. 
    Cassy was pouring herself a glass of juice and glanced over at me again. “So, Will, how did you two meet?” 
    “We bumped into each other on campus and decided to grab some coffee,” I answered. 
    Michelle tensed and looked at Chris, who decided to find a seat in the living room. He was watching her and I could see something pass between the two of them. That’s right, they were technically dating when we met. 
    I tried to stay tuned into Michelle and all I could feel in the midst of her nerves was a hint of guilt. She felt guilty about what happened between them. 
    “I hope you’re treating her right.” Cassy gave me another smile, this time it was hard to tell how fake it was. 
    “Of course.” Between the two siblings, Cassy scared me more. She was calm and could fake nice. I couldn’t get a good read on her. Chris on the other hand was an open book, I could read every emotion and thought that crossed his mind. 
    Michelle pulled out her phone, “I should order that food now, what all do y’all want?” She typed away on her phone, pulling up the app to order food on.
    Cassy piped in with a laundry list of different foods, most of it noodle based. When she was finished she looked over at her brother, “Do you want anything special?”
    The tension slowly easing away, Chris responded, “So long as there's meat then I’ll be happy.”
    “I second that.” It slipped out before I thought much about agreeing with a hunter. We both looked at each other, trying to figure out where the other stands.
    Michelle let out a quiet laugh, “I already figured that much. I know how important protein is for y’all.” Cassy was looking between Chris and I, no emotions on her face. 
    We kept up small conversation as we waited for the food to arrive. By the time it arrived Cassy and Michelle had managed to take over the flow of conversation and the tension from earlier was practically gone. Chris and I sat and listened to the girls chat about nothing important, only piping in when asked a question. 
    It wasn’t long after we finished our food that I decided it was time to leave. “It’s getting late, I should probably head out now.”
     Michelle looked over from where she was sitting at the couch next to Cassy and gave me a smile. “Let me walk you out.” She stood and met me at the door.
    “No need, it’s cold out.” I reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Out of respect for Chris, and my life, I decided it best not kiss her while they were watching. As much as I wanted to.
    “Be safe.” She gave me a small smile and waved as I walked out. 
    I was at my truck pushing the button to unlock it when I heard the front door open and close behind me. Turning I saw Chris standing there, a strange look on his face. I didn’t feel any of the fear from earlier coming off of him. Anger either. Just curiosity. 
    He made his way down the steps and walked to his car. Trying to ignore me, he reached for his keys. I knew he was very aware of what I was doing though. He made eye contact before climbing into his vehicle and starting the engine. 
     I did the same and climbed in my truck. He let me pull out first, probably making sure I was actually leaving, before he pulled out himself, turning in the opposite direction.