Darkness Awakens_Chronicles of Hunter

by Frank Perez

  "I don’t have so many brothers left Hunter that I can afford to lose another to a wrong choice."

  Things had gone easier after that. They’d both sat back and worked out what they would do next. With the murderous rage of emotions coursing through Hunter’s body at the moment, he would go to free Bonnie. Michael would see what he could do about The Jackal and Julian.

  *~*

  Julian sat back in his chair, sick of waiting. His eyes darted around the room once more. Twenty Watchers, each hiding in the shadows waiting for the failure. The Jackal sitting within the dark recess behind this very chair. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair again, scanning the room once more. Myself sitting here as bait. His fingers stopped drumming, not that I had much choice in that.

  One moment he had been sitting in the chair dictating to the new group of four before him how they would be forming a new committee to oversee things, reporting to him and the next…

  The next, the Jackal had appeared from nowhere, blasting the four individuals before him into nothing, trapping me in this damn chair and then transporting twenty other Watchers into the chambers, without even acknowledging me! The Master would be furious when he heard about this! Julian sighed and his fingers drummed against the arm of the chair again, The Master hasn’t answered my calls since this all began. Not a sign from him at all.

  The Jackal sat in the shadows behind Julian's chair. Doubts had formed in his mind about the failed one. Killing his woman and leaving the note should have flushed him out quicker than this. The Master had assured him that the failed one was not to be feared that he held minimal power and even less cunning. That the Master could be wrong did not even enter his thoughts. That thinking led down the painful path. It wasn’t the Master who was wrong, he himself had underestimated the situation. More than once now if his failures of the previous days was anything to go by.

  He hadn’t even thought twice about using Julian as bait. The Master had been clear in his instructions, Do what is necessary to destroy the failed one. Sacrificing a pawn like Julian was not worth even a moment’s notice. His eyes scanned the lines of power that he had weaved throughout the room. They all lay ready and fully charged. They would incapacitate the failed one as soon as his feet touched the ground in the room.

  *~*

  Michael stood in the middle of the room with no one being the wiser. He had willed himself into it but slightly out of phase with the rest. The surrounding traps would not spring unless he tripped them. He looked around himself. The Watchers were on guard, ready to pounce. He read their auras and sighed once more, every single one of them was dark. Was there no good people left in the citadel any longer? How could I have totally missed this for so long? He shifted his gaze back to Julian, seated in the chair. Gone was any semblance of the council member that he remembered. Worried lines raged across his face, the ever-present smile long gone.

  He thought back to his parting words with Hunter, Truly good people are always asked to do the things that others won’t do. The lesser of two evils. His gaze moved to the figure standing behind Julian, although sometimes, the lesser of the two evils is actually something you look forward to doing.

  He smiled to himself and got ready. The Jackals’ trap was about to get sprung.

  *~*

  Total chaos erupted the moment that Michael moved back into sync with the rest of the room.

  As one, every Watcher in the room had drawn their swords and quickly taken up positions around him. Michael smiled to himself noticing that the Jackal had not moved a muscle, thinking himself invisible to him. He would let him continue thinking that. He paused and looked around him to the Watchers. Stretching out his arm, his sword materializing in his hands before the startled enemy. He sent a small touch of his power through the sword, igniting it and making it look like it was aflame. The fear in the eyes of the Watchers well worth the effort. Even the Jackal flinched for a moment, he thought.

  He slipped under the clumsy overhead swing of the first Watcher and plunged his sword into the one behind him, spinning around to snap the neck of the first. Before the others had even moved, he’d spun back around to reclaim his sword and turned back to face them. Ready for the next attack, a manic grin on his face.

  The Jackal watched on, studying Michaels’ movements as he took on the Watchers. There had been no doubt in his mind that Michael would take them all out that hadn’t been their purpose, regardless. He had gathered them all here under that pretext, allowing them to think that he needed them. His only aim had been to determine the failed ones’ strength. The strength and grace of his movements were a sight to behold. It had been easy to underestimate this one. For the first time that he could ever recall, he doubted the words of his master. He’s much more powerful than you made out!

  He watched on as Michael took two giant steps and rolled forwards, coming up between four of the stunned watchers. In one spinning swoop, he’d severed all four heads with the sword at the same time throwing two smaller triangle blades further out. Each blade flew into the throats of the unsuspecting watchers standing beyond the fray. Both dead before their bodies had hit the floor.

  Within a minute of beginning, half of the Watchers lay dead before Michael.

  The other watchers took a step backwards at the bloody onslaught, turning their eyes on each other. Fear evident on each face. One after the other they whirled away and disappeared from view, leaving the scene.

  Michael looked around him ensuring that there were no other surprises waiting. When he was satisfied he turned and strode towards the seated Julian, sword extended. Placing the tip of his sword underneath his chin, he forced Julian's face up so that he could see his eyes. “I see the puppet but where’s the puppet master?”

  The Jackal stepped forwards out of the shadows dropping the surrounding cloak at the same time. Raising his own sword, he pointed it at Michael. Michael laughed and stared at the emerging form of the Jackal, “Did you really think yourself invisible there?” extending his sword towards the ready Jackal “I knew it all along.”

  The Jackal dipped his sword slightly and smiled, “The Master was right, you really aren’t as smart or as good as you think you are.”

  Michael took a step towards the Jackal getting ready for the oncoming fight, “That remains to be seen.”

  The Jackals’ sword dipped until the tip was actually touching the ground. He looked up at Michael and laughed, “It’s already been proven.”

  Michael turned his head at the sound of a second voice behind him, "Even dumber than I initially thought as well." Before any thought even registered, he was hit from behind with force. Getting only a tiny glimpse of Gabriel before the darkness took him, "Welcome home, Brother."

  Chapter 10

  After leaving the world of the Brethren, Hunter had gone to the rendezvous point that Michael and he had initially agreed upon. The peaceful room where Michael had first come to understand himself - Michael's room, as they'd called it. He lingered there for what felt like an eternity waiting for Michael to show up and used the time thinking back to the events that had occurred.

  The Queen of the Brethren lay dead at his own hands. Her death should have sent shock-waves through the entire species and yet nothing of the sort had occurred, not even the tiniest spasm had gone through the drones that were there in the cave with him. The drones themselves had not even lifted a finger to help their own Queen as he'd systematically destroyed her.

  The Prince himself had been gorging on the life essence of those that had knelt before him, something that only the Queen should have been able to do.

  Bonnie still trapped even though the bubble of pure evil that had surrounded was no longer present.

  The army being created. An army that the planet itself could not sustain.

  The Barrier holding back the joint might of the Brethren still in effect but nearly at the end of its tenure.

  He'd continued to think on these things, over and over until finally, he had tired o
f his surroundings.

  So now he found himself walking the dark streets of the city, senses fully alert and yet not truly seeing anything. Michael should have returned a long time ago so something must have gone wrong. Knowing the strength and inner steel that Michael had, he knew that both the Jackal and Julian should have been no match for him. Not even the assembled might of every other watcher on this plane should have stopped Michael from doing what needed to be done. Something must have gone drastically wrong and the only unknown factor here was Gabriel.

  Could Michaels brother had gotten involved? There'd been no sign of him that they'd felt. Yet, had he found out what was happening and got involved?

  Too many questions with no answers. Ren's death had left a hollow part inside him. The knowledge that had come from the visions that the padre had shown him swirled through him. He had power. A power that was still developing within him. Not the same as Michaels', whose power shone brightly with colors. He showed not the slightest externally. Inside though, he thought it shines greater than any other I've seen. He still didn’t know what to make of it.

  Thinking of his own power had ignited the flame of a small thought. Padre Toby! He'd been instrumental right from the start of this. Maybe he could shed further light on things. He stopped walking and for the first time took notice of his surroundings. Everywhere he looked his perceptions took in an overwhelming sense of nothingness bordering on becoming despair.

  *~*

  The constant clicks of the assistant's low heeled shoes resounded off the tiled foyer as Hunter accompanied her to where the padre was.

  He had shown up to the institution to talk with padre Toby suspecting that they would not allow him in. The opposite had happened. Upon announcing himself at security, he'd been asked to sign in and wait while an assistant came to collect him. It didn’t take long for one to show. With a brief greeting and hello she had asked him to follow her.

  Instead of moving to the main lounge where he had met up with him before, they had ridden the elevator up to the top level of the building and gotten out. The attendant didn't meet his eyes or even acknowledge him in any way. Pausing at a closed door, she had tapped twice and opened it, motioning for Hunter to enter.

  Hunter stepped through the door and into a modest office. A tiny desk sat in the heart of the room stacked high with charts and notes. A slight man had gotten to his feet on the other side of it. "Mr. Hunter? Please take a seat." he suggested, gesturing to the small chair in front of him, "I'm Dr Livingstone. The principal of this hospital."

  Hunter wasn't certain what he had just stepped into so he didn't worry about correcting the doctor on the mistake of his name. Calmly he moved forward and took a seat facing the doctor as he did. He stood at around five feet four inches, a foot lower than Hunter himself. Tiny strands of long hair were raked over from one side of his scalp to the other in a fruitless try at masking up an altogether bald skull. Deeply etched lines across his face spoke of a life spent fretting about cases. The edges of a blue-collar peeked out from beneath the harsh white coat on which a stethoscope was still wrapped starting on one side of the coat, it wrapped across the collar of his neck and dropped loosely on the other. An intense crimson tie polished off the ensemble. Traditional doctor attire from what Hunter could see.

  Doctor Livingstone flipped through a pile of folders in front of him, clearly looking for something. With a small satisfied aha, he found the one he was after and extracted a small notebook. Looking up at Hunter with a small twinge of sadness in his eyes, he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk.

  "I'm sorry to have to inform you about this Mr. Hunter, but after you left us a few days ago, the good father slipped into a coma and has not awakened. We've been trying to get in contact with Ms Nia ever since without success."

  Hunter had just been staring at the doctor as he'd spoken. No glimmer of any emotion passing his features. "Ms Nia?" he asked.

  "Correct. Ms Ren Nia. She is recorded as the person we are to call in an emergency." The doctor sat back in his chair, then continued "Toby updated his information to include you as a second contact point, in case we could not reach Ms Nia. He was emphatic about it yesterday morning and wouldn't settle down until it had been done."

  He leaned forward on his desk once more. Seemingly powerless to stay in one position too long, "He also gave precise instructions to the doctor who was working yesterday. This binder,” he added, waving it at Hunter, “was to be handed over to you, if anything unfortunate befell him.”

  Hunter took the notebook that the doctor had waved at him and rose. "Thank you, doctor. I'll let Ms Nia know about Toby. I appreciate your time." He retreated out of the office and wandered down the corridor mindful that the doctor's eyes were watching him the full way. In a slight daze, Hunter got out of the lift and departed the building. Heading down the road without noticing where he was heading.

  Within moments he realized that he was following the same route the Ren & himself had taken to the coffee shop where they had had their one and only breakfast together, in what now seemed like a different life. He went in and took a seat at the corner booth as far away from the front door as possible. The same tired looking hostess from the previous morning made her way over to him, "Breakfast again today Hun?" she enquired.

  Hunter gave a sad smile, "Perfect. Just for one today"

  The waitress smiled back at him, "Back in a jiffy sunshine."

  Hunter waited while the waitress moved back and poured him a coffee before taking out the notebook to read. It was packed with page after page of hand-printed notes by the Padre. He turned to the first page.

  Hunter. What follows here is a part of the story you weren’t ready for earlier. My heart has broken over what has happened to Ren, she couldn’t have been closer to me or nicer. I loved her as if she was my daughter - more so. Please do not allow the blackness to collect within your own soul, too much of the world is at risk for that to happen and I know for a fact that Ren would not have wanted that.

  For what it’s worth, I was genuinely hoping that you two would have found a path to be together, Ren deserved a taste of light in her world & I feel you would have been ideal for her. That she cared for you, never doubt my friend. She showed that by allowing you to come and visit me. That was one vow I drew from her before approving myself to be confined.

  Now, I beg of you. Read the following narrative. They are not the made-up ramblings of a psychopath as most would have you think. Consider me nothing more than a pen that is being wielded by mighty forces in our universe. The Goddess is absolute, and she lives yet if merely for the briefest of moments; as does Luxfer, for now. I have noted this tale as recited by Luxfer, others are what I recall about specific parts of my vision. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to clean it up all nice for you. Time is something we are all lacking at the moment. While he is yet living, Luxfer appears to be in some kind of dream state. I hope you can discover answers in the pages that follow.

  It begins when the Goddess came out of her century-deep introspection...

  *~*

  She had remained on one of the isolated planets meditating for the best part of a century. She could readily destroy the full planet but was loathe to do so. Every experiment has the potential to take you on an unexpected course with many detours.

  Were they genuinely so bleak in essence or were they redeemable?

  Millions of theories had flown through her immense mind over the century. Extinction and elimination were the simple paths. That would be the judgement of The Others. That wasn't her though. Every experiment required a nudge here and there. She determined to do so here.

  She would create her own individual from sheer spirit. An extension of her power. This being would be incorruptible. She’d have to create him with as much power as her, well-virtually, she amended. The distinction being that she would have to suppress his aura to block the creatures from being able to perceive him. To do so, she would assure that his burned inwards. There would
be repercussions with doing so but they would have to be borne.

  She visualized the near perfection of the original nation she’d created had shown and concluded that she would form her new being in their likeness. Seizing the picture in her mind, she tuned in to her strength and built it up. Once she felt the correct pitch of her power, she allowed it to gently trickle through her outstretched arm, through her fingertips and into the air before her.

  A myriad of colors whirled through her as she called forth the power. Bright Jades, blues and orange fissures of raw light, spun amongst each other, gradually creating a being in front of her. A being that was entirely conscious and wholly hers. Not only are you a part of me, she reflected you’re the best parts of me.

  She calmly strode around him, searching for any shortcoming. Standing erect at six feet of height, his eyes watched her as she walked around him. Strong, she saw. Flawless. A God incarnate. Her inspection completed, she strode back to watch him, head on. Reaching out a soft hand, she caressed his cheek “You are the center. You stand as a Nexus at this moment. The darkness increases in ways that we cannot allow and they know us.

  Your brilliance is kept within, the light burning internally. Always black to others, even though you are the brightest of my children - my bringer of light. In fact, that’s what I shall call you. Luxfer: The Light Bringer.”

  I watched her as she took her time scrutinizing me. My mother, D'HarmaSan - the Immortal. Every fiber of my soul was emitting perfect love, enclosed in a darkened nothing that restricted the wonderful energy from burning unless I chose to do so.