I thought the best option might be to wait the GV6 out into the morning light, but that was too long of a wait. The risk of one of the family members breaking was too great. The desperation was growing by the moment as I monitored their vitals. Every sound great and small worsened their conditions.
Sunnie tugged at my pants leg with urgency. Bending down, she whispered to me, "Don't do anything stupid. There is nothing you can do. Sit down with us. Please, Ethan don't be a hero!"
Gazing into her eyes I explained very simply, "I promise I won't do anything too stupid."
Her lower lip quivered and her eyes were teary, but she was able to grin. I freed my pants leg from her vise like grip and stepped away from her to get closer to the center of the room. The Hunter hadn't moved in a while. I had to locate him so I could plan accordingly. What is he doing I asked myself.
A rear window was heard being broken then another in a different room. Gasps and crying became louder from the family. The monster was toying with us.
I faced the family and squatted to talk to them. "I need you all to listen to me. When the Hunter comes into the home, he will do everything he can to separate you so remember you must stay together. He will also be monstrous in appearance so don't let that freak you out. You must do as I tell you no matter what happens. The next thing is kind of a big deal so I need your full attention. I have been modified myself and may appear a little differently than I normally do after I get angry. Please, do not freak out. By the way, I also may be in love with Sunnie."
The group appeared stunned by my statement of love for Sunnie except her. She giggled and nodded her head. Of course the group could have been stunned by the fact that I admitted I was similar in some way to the Hunter who was taunting us. This was the most likely truth. For Sunnie, I think the truth of my altered state was wiped from her brain when I admitted my feelings for her. I took her hand in mine. The rest of the family was horrified. The tender moment for Sunnie and I was disturbed by another window being broken then the tinkling and cracking of glass upon the floor. The Hunter was in the house.
The GV6 stopped walking when he heard the noise he was making. I delicately eased around the family to block the beast's angle of attack. The creature would have to come down the hall then go through me to get to the family I was shielding. A soft, inaudible to human ears, thump reverberated through the sub flooring. To the humans behind me, the lone sound was a scattering of broken glass that was still hard to hear because of the steady torrent of sobs from Mandy. The Hunter resumed his progress. The GV6 had jumped clear of the broken glass. So much for stealth ability, I laughed to myself to calm myself down.
He smelled of rancid meat. The odor was strong. The odor was not his natural smell. The Hunter hadn't been blessed with the GV16s ability to emit pleasant, intoxicating scents, but the other vampires were a mixed lot. Mainly the vampires had no scent, no body odor. A few would emit the scent of dead flowers, some a clean chemical smell. The Hunter had been feeding recently. The rancid smell was something I couldn't place. He was still hungry. His body chemistry told me everything I needed to know. Size, strength, whatever I desired to investigate.
My abilities were sharpening with the intensity of my concentration. When my senses were combined, it seemed I could see his outline through the wall. Inside the room was a red shape standing before the door, waiting. The Hunter was an inch taller and twenty pounds heavier than me with long light colored hair. I knew if I could sense him, then he could also me.
I stayed close to the family as the Hunter reached for the door. Tension filled my being. Inadvertently, I phased into my alternate self. Fangs and teeth exposed, I was ready. Rotating my fingers in half circles then drawing them into my palm, I cracked my knuckles as I readied for battle.
The door knob turned silently then a low click. The Hunter had not calculated the hinges of the door being squeaky. The monster eased the door open to the sound of screeching. Comically, the GV6 would stop the opening of the door then try again to the same result. Four attempts and the door was only partially opened. The monster had not figured for such a simple mechanical hindrance giving away his intentions. The snapping and splintering of wood resonated down the hallway as the door was kicked from its hinges, followed by the crashing of the door through the wall across the distance.
The Hunter bounded down the hallway in two steps. I crossed the remaining living space, cutting the bulging vampire off before he could explode into the room. Launching into the GV6, the contact carried us both through the sliding glass door, mangling the aluminum frame and shattering the glass. We ended up on the covered rear porch. We landed on a wooden Adirondack lawn chair crumbling the brightly colored item into broken wooden shards. I pinned the Hunter to the concrete flooring of the porch as he twisted and fought.
The GV6 was grotesque. The long, blonde hair was thin and the head was overly large for the body. The fangs were wider and jagged. The skin a paler gray than I had seen previously on the Farm. The musculature was similar to my own.
The GV6 screamed with a voice that was scratchy, "Get off of me! Get off of me!"
His claws were wide and long, stretching to seven inches when fully extended. One of the sharp talons ripped opened my back as the Hunter squirmed free enough to cast me aside. The Hunter was upon of me in the instant it took me to recover from the searing pain of my wound. I was bleeding profusely.
I found myself on my side with my left arm pinned beneath me attempting to fend off the GV6. The beast tore at me with the claws tearing small strips of flesh from my arm and legs. Kicking at the Hunter, I was able to gain enough of a gap in fending off his attack that I freed my arm. The creature lunged at me before I could scramble to my feet. I caught the vampire in the chest with my right foot and used the night stalker's momentum to force him into the yard. Rushing to pursue the GV6, I snatched a piece of broken chair from the porch. The GV6 met me before I could clear the roofline of the covered porch.
His speed was amazing and ferocity was relentless. The monster was driven by a desire to fulfill his mission at all costs. The passion with which he tried to obey his directive was the reason I could not easily defeat him. Mindlessly, he flailed once he was within an arm's length. I ducked then swung the two foot long splinter of wood. The blow made contact in the vampire's stomach shattering the shaft in my hands. The force of my swing hurled the vampire back into the yard, landing on his back. A few pieces embedded deep into the stomach of the GV6 did not deter the vampire. The Hunter sprung to his feet.
He stared at me as he spoke, "Why do you stand in my way? Or we not the same? Move aside, and I will let you live."
I did not reply initially. I had been foolish playing to the GV6s strengths. It was time to play to mine. I had to erase the thoughts of protection and go on the offensive.
Stepping into the yard I was prepared to do what I had to do. I chided the Hunter, "If you want to kill me, here I am come and get me."
The Hunter ran then bounded toward me. I caught the vampire in mid leap then smashed him into the wooden column thrice. The column was obliterated after the repeated pounding of the Hunter into the thick treated lumber which had been wrapped in aluminum.
The vampire was broken and bleeding to the point he was almost non responsive, but even in his state of near unconsciousness, he kept snapping at me as I lifted him from the ground by the scraggily hair. "I have had enough."
I thrust my hand into the chest of the Hunter, ripping out his heart then shoved it into his open mouth. Dropping the vampire to the ground, I tore loose the head by stepping on the throat to hold the torso in place. I towered over him as I pulled the head apart from the body. I stared into the ugly, lifeless face. In my anger, I punched the deceased vampire hard enough to crush the cheekbones into dust.
Phasing into my human appearance, I turned to deal with the fallout of my truth escaping. There was a new odor in the air, several actually. Moving into the house through the broken door, I found the family exc
ept for Sunnie laid out in front of the couch unconscious with Chloe kneeling beside Mandy. Sunnie was seated on the couch in an induced catatonic state.
The rest of my group lined the far window of the room including Veronica. "We will discuss what happened here when we return to the base. Chloe is implanting new memories in the minds of the family members. To them, this will have been the perfect night with the exception of an accidental electronic burst of unusual size. The story will help explain the damage."
She motioned for Logan and Liam to get the body of the GV6 into the van in the yard. "The government wants its property back. The leadership believes that you were so driven to find the escaped Hunter series GV6 that you risked blowing your cover to peruse the escapee."
I asked, "Why does the government believe that to be the case?"
She snapped at me, "Because I fucking told them that it was the reason. They think you are some kind of hero. Don't worry we, your family, know the truth. By the way, your selfishness is starting to become a pain in my ass."
As I passed Darby in order to step closer to Veronica, I could tell she had been crying. "Thank you Veronica."
She shrugged and pushed past me to check on the progress of Logan and Liam. Darby mirrored her actions.
Logan and Liam had wrapped the body of the Hunter in old sheets they had procured from an overturned box near where the sliding glass door had once stood. Neither of them made eye contact with me as they schlepped the body parts from the freshly completely dismembered body through the living room.
Chloe had finished reprogramming the family and had silently left the house to join the guys in the van.
Veronica shot a look to Darby that prompted her to leave as well.
I walked up to Veronica, who still stood with her back to me. She was crying again. "Veronica, I couldn't let an innocent die. She is not a mission. She is a friend."
"A friend huh? Do you risk everything for a friend?" Her attitude was bitchy.
I said sternly, but cautiously, "I think you know I do because I have for you."
There was a frantic wiping of her face then Veronica spoke, "She hasn't been reprogrammed, but we can if you want that. You can start over. We all can. She doesn't have to know the truth, but that choice is yours."
I sat down beside Sunnie on the couch. Her vitals were normal. She was fine except for the white glaze that hid her true eye color.
Veronica saw me sit down over her shoulder. She shook her head as if she couldn't believe that I had taken a seat. The scantily dressed vampire started to walk out the door. Her face was framed by beams of moonlight as she paused before opening the glass door.
"Veronica, will she just wake up if I leave?" I asked.
She answered coldly, "If you leave, this night will have never happened for her. She will never know that you were here. The story as told to her by the rest of the family will be the only one Sunnie will know. Chloe has limited her ability to discuss the events with anyone except us if needed."
"And if I stay?" I was afraid to hear Veronica's reaction.
"If you stay? If you stay all you have to do is kiss her and she will awaken to know the monster that you are. Remember, either choice is yours so choose carefully."
I felt the sting of her eyes as I contemplated my next move. Veronica pushed through the door and seconds later the van could be heard pulling from the yard.
There was no question in my mind about what I should do and what I wanted to do. Those were clearly two different paths. Taking either would mean there was no way back. The longer I mulled the decision, the easier it became.
Soon her family would awaken and the moment would be gone. Sunnie's semi-catatonic body was unyielding as I pulled her to me. Adjusting her head to face me properly, I offered a small kiss upon her lips then felt her hands embrace my face as a steady torrent of tears began to fall from us both.
She removed her lips from mine and wiped at the tears flowing down my face then at her own. Her attention shifted to her family in the floor. "Oh God, Ethan, are they alright?"
Sunnie wanted to go to them, but I held her tightly in my arms. She tried again then relented. "They are fine Sunnie. The rest of my team arrived to help dispose of the Hunter while easing the minds of your family. Any trace of tonight's events has been removed, including the fact that I was here."
I could tell by the look in her eyes there were too many questions than I had time for since any second her family could awaken. Her confusion became recognition as her fingers traced the lines of my face. "Your face looked so different earlier. I never got a very good look, but I could have sworn...I could have sworn you had fangs." Her tiny hand grabbed mine. Sunnie inspected my hand. "And there were claws." Again she plied at my face in an effort to string together what occurred. "Maybe I was so upset about the man that broke into the house that I saw those things. My mind had to be playing tricks. You said dispose....is he dead? Did you kill him?"
She was longing for me to fill in the blanks. The promise I had made to me was never to lie to her unless it put her life in jeopardy. In this world of humans, the truth would sound insane even against the events of tonight.
I kissed her gently allowing our lips to barely touch. The kiss ended, but we lingered, nose to nose and lips to lips. I drew her lower lip into my mouth then held her back from me before I lost my courage. "Sunnie, the limited story I am about to tell you is true and fantastical. There will be a time during the telling of the story that you will think I am making it all up, but I promise that I need you to believe what I say. Do you understand?"
Sunnie was scared. "I guess so."
"Okay,” I sighed. "I will tell you what I can. When your family awakes, the story that they will believe took place tonight is that an accidental electromagnetic pulse occurred causing the damage. No matter had adamant you try to tell them otherwise, the family will never agree. It will be on the news, their reality has been altered."
"Okay?" I asked.
She sat there confused, but acknowledged my question. "Okay. How is that possible that their minds could be erased of the events of the night? Will mine?"
Proceeding to the hard part of the story, I held her hands, rubbing the backs of them with my fingers. "The government has created special individuals with extraordinary abilities that can do things such as mind resets."
I paused to check for her understanding. Her eyes grew wide if to imply I should go on with the story. "We are part of a larger program designed to protect the U.S. from its enemies."
"You have these abilities then?"
I answered, "I have other abilities, though I am not entirely sure what those are fully. I have not been in the program that long, and I am still learning. So before you ask, yes the things you saw tonight are part of me. I do have fangs and claws when I need them."
She relocated herself further away to the far end of the couch. Sunnie was shaking as she curled her legs to her chest. "So the Hunter, as you called him, wasn't a man in a mask then. That was his real face. He was a living, breathing monster that was sent to kill my family. If he was like that and you have claws...you have fangs...I remember your eyes being so black...what are...what are...then you are a monster."
"Sunnie, you know I am not a monster. I am just a kid like you. However, unlike you, I was given a second chance at life as part of a group of soldiers that are unique in this world. You know me." I paused, looking deeply into her eyes. "You now know how I really feel about you. I spoke the truth when I said I loved you. You must know that? Since we have met I cannot get you out of my thoughts. I long to see and touch you."
Her face was flush. "Love? You are capable of love? All the details about your family were just lies weren't they. All the details about your life, were those lies? Answer me! Tell me what the hell I am supposed to believe?"
Remaining calm I said, "Listen, I didn't ask to be this way, but I am. I didn't ask to fall in love with you, but I did. No matter what you think I am - a monster, a killer
- neither of those will change."
Undeterred by my response, Sunnie angrily questioned me, "What was he Ethan? What are you for that matter?"
"The Hunter was a genetically engineered being that was a subspecies of the GV6 family. His original generation six group resembles humans except for a few discrepancies that make them unable to be used for field work. The Hunter was created to be used against an enemy in an extreme case or when facing an isolated target. They are as much a fear weapon as anything else. They are efficient killing machines. At one time, he was a regular GV6 before Chadron intervened with the modifications that mutated him. It is hard to imagine that at one time he was even a living breathing human."
Sunnie was rocking back and forth. "What does GV6 mean? Are you one of those things or something different?"
"Generation V6. I am a generation sixteen which is the newest and only generation to be placed in the field. We are as much human as we are anything else, just with slight differences."
"Wait, you purposely left out part of the definition of the acronym. What does the V stand for?" She fired at me.
"I think you know what it means. I don't have to say it. You have seen it with your own eyes." I replied.
She gasped then shouted. "Get out!"
"Sunnie, you know that you do not mean that."
The family was beginning to move and groan. Moments were all that were left before I had to flee. Sunnie sat at the opposite end of the couch with her legs still curled to her chest. Her face was turned to the side as she rested her head along her knees. It was time to take a chance.
I burst forward from the couch in her direction lifting her to me. She was too stunned to struggle. The time for explanation had passed. If the risk I was going to take failed, at least it would be a pleasant memory of goodbye. Extended and suspended before me I brought her to me without giving her an opportunity to offer a protest. She was afraid. There was a distinct look of terror upon her face. I envisioned there had to certainly be thoughts of horror racing through her mind. Attempting to kiss her, she turned her face. I didn't want to hurt her, but I would have this kiss. Forcing her face to mine, I brought my lips to her closed, unwanting lips. She began to struggle though I held her tightly enough that she couldn't hurt herself.
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