A Hunter Within

by Anna Applegate

  Seeley casually sat down in my chair, spreading his legs out in front of him. His dark button-up shirt was rolled up to his elbows, and he looked like he was doing an ad for that very chair he was sitting in. I shook my head and sighed and sat on the bed.

  “So, I know I told you already in a voicemail but, I saw Gabriel today,” I said, watching him and gaging his reaction.

  His jaw clenched, and he immediately stood, running his hand through his hair as his entire demeanor changed. “Yeah. How is he? Is he hurt?”

  “He seems okay,” I said, sounding as unsure as I felt. I stood and crossed over to where Seeley stood, wrapping my arms around his waist. I wasn’t sure what to do to comfort him. The tension was evident in his body and I wanted desperately to help him.

  “I think he thought I was someone else,” I said finally. Seeley pulled back and looked down at me. “I tried to explain I was working with you, but he got angry and acted like I shouldn’t be. He said not to worry about him and that he’d find his own way out and for you to stop. He also said I was in danger. It was really, strange,” I said, thinking back to our encounter.

  Seeley stepped away from me and tilted his head, watching me closely. It was as if he was trying to see what Gabriel had seen. After a few moments of staring, he shook his head. “I’m not sure who he thought you were, Parker. That doesn’t make any sense at all to me.” He sighed. “Perhaps he’s upset I’m involving a human, and he’s right. You shouldn’t be doing this, it’s risky.”

  “I know the risk. But we already determined that,” I scolded. “More importantly, I know where Gabriel is. We can take a look at the maps again. Oh, and I got access to most of the areas in the building. It’s so much more than we had before. You should be able to get him, now.” I smiled and ran my hand up his arm, reassuringly.

  He was quiet again.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Now we wait to see what information Henry gives you. Maybe see if anything comes up at the gala. Then we’ll plan out our course of action to rescue Gabe and be done with this,” he said definitively.

  “What if they ask me to do something to one of the vampires they have in the meantime?” I asked, quietly.

  “We’ll pray they don’t, especially not this early. But if they do, you can’t let on to anything. You’ll have to play along for now. It would be too dangerous otherwise.” He pulled me back to his side and stroked my hair back, resting his chin on the top of my head. I buried my face deeper into his chest, suddenly nervous at the prospect of having to hurt someone in this charade.

  “When this is over, and we have Gabriel back, you’re done with that place. You can find a job anywhere else, but please promise you’ll leave Falcone.”

  I honestly hadn’t thought of what I was going to do once the vampires rescued Gabriel. I couldn’t stay at Falcone. I couldn’t stand what they were doing. But there was something in my gut, something that wasn’t sitting right about letting it go. Yes, I could leave, but that didn’t mean they’d stop. How could I move on knowing all that was still happening? Then again, who was I to be able to stop a company like Falcone?

  “What about Marissa, and everything she’s doing? It’s wrong,” I said.

  “We’ll take care of it,” he said softly. “She won’t get away with it.”

  “I’ll leave when it’s been taken care of then,” I said, defiantly.

  Seeley looked down and met my eyes with a look of disapproval on his face but didn’t say a word. We stood there awhile longer, Seeley lost in his own thoughts. My thoughts were on this vampire who was stirring intense emotions in me, the nagging in me about how I needed to bring Marissa down along with the strange worry that wouldn’t leave me about why Gabriel recognized me and his warning about being in danger.

  CHAPTER 10

  With such an eventful first day on Marissa’s project, I had thought the entire week was going to be an emotionally traumatic ride. However, she seemed to have pulled us away from the initial shock. While we did visit the observation room a few times, most of the week was spent in a new shiny cubicle area researching some of the past studies that had been done on vampires, and working to understand some of the findings. Marissa had told us that she wanted to make sure we were as certain as she was about this threat so we would be capable of doing what needed to be done.

  In other words, she wanted to make sure we were one-hundred percent brainwashed into believing we should hurt vampires to get her what it was she was looking for.

  I kept my head down, taking in as much as I could, not knowing what would and wouldn’t be useful for the vampires to know. I kept thinking that the gala would give me more answers, more ways to help Seeley.

  The vampires were in their own world. Apparently the three of them were working on a plan to break Gabriel out. Seeley was also dealing with more disappearances, but I had no clue where they were keeping mass amounts of vampires. The room we were shown, which appeared to be the only main study area I’d seen other than the testing room where I met the first vampire at Falcone, could only hold maybe ten vampires, including the special room for Gabriel. There were many more than that missing.

  I’d been happy to get more time with Seeley, but I’d been missing Henry. He had been radio silent, taking care of whatever it was that had called him away. We’d been best friends for so long now that his absence made me feel incomplete. I hated it. With my parents dying so young, I never really connected to many people growing up. I sheltered myself away, with Aunt Amanda as my only true friend. I came to school here and met Henry, then Abbey and Vanessa and suddenly, it was as if I had another family.

  I was closest to Henry, though. We were each other’s confidants. I didn’t know if it was because he was a scientist too, or because we spent to so much time together, but he was my person.

  Friday had finally come and the gala was in just a few hours. Henry had asked that I go with him, but I hadn’t heard a word from him.

  I sat at my desk, unpacking the lunch I brought with me. Since we had been pulled onto Marissa’s special project, it seemed that the timing for our breaks and lunches was more lax. I had quickly realized the strict breaks and lunch schedule for the rest of the building coincided with the fact that vampires they were testing were rotated and switched at the same time as those breaks. Pretty convenient to have areas cleared out of nosy interns and staff not involved in this project in case anything happened.

  I was about to start working on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had packed in a hurry that morning, when Marissa’s voice came from over my shoulder.

  “You can’t possibly be sitting here alone, eating that.”

  I turned to find her smiling her usual smile at me. I swear a plastic surgeon could study her to determine how her face elasticity stayed in that same position constantly.

  “Oh, it’s okay. I’m not too hungry today,” I said, raising the sandwich I was holding and shrugging.

  She looked at me condescendingly before extending an offer. “Why don’t you come join me? I hate to eat alone,” she said.

  I couldn’t very well say no to her. I wasn’t sure anyone said no to Marissa. “That’s very generous,” I said, rising from my seat and following her out. I walked with her toward a small kitchen and sitting area that was in our private section of the facility.

  She took out an elaborate salad and sat down, crossing her legs and watching me as I removed my sandwich and water from the brown paper bag I had.

  My phone buzzed, distracting me from my thoughts.

  It was Henry. I’m sorry, Jules. I’ll explain everything tonight. Pick you up at 6:30?

  I smiled at the phone and ached at the thought of finally getting to see him again.

  “You seem happy,” Marissa said.

  I shut my phone and refocused on the woman in front of me. “I apologize. I just got word from a friend I haven’t heard from in a while, that’s all,” I said. I fidgeted nervously. I had no idea what we were going to spend t
he next few minutes discussing. Then I stopped. Perhaps I could get some information out of her that would be useful.

  I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and picked at my sandwich. “Could I ask you some things about our work with the vampires?”

  “Of course, you’re a part of this team now,” she said, twirling her unused fork in my direction.

  “What is the overarching purpose of our study?” I asked.

  She nodded thoughtfully, as if she appreciated my inquiry. “Well, in the most basic sense, knowledge is power. Anytime you can understand an essence of a species, you can better understand them. The more we can learn about a certain gene or genome, the more we can comprehend what to do to subdue or express those traits further. Every bit of information we can get, helps us to better control the problems presented to us.” She smiled at me and took a tiny bite of her salad, dramatically patting at her mouth with her napkin before continuing.

  “It’s incredible what science can do,” she concluded.

  I leaned in toward the table, purposefully. “What exactly are we looking for in them? Are there specific genes we need more information on?”

  “We want to know what makes them tick. Why do they need blood? How strong are they? Are there ways to mutate their genetic composition to create a better species, to create a better version of what they already are? Maybe they won’t need blood forever. Maybe they can evolve and survive to sustain themselves on other things, things more easily available and accessible. We may even be able to fix them and help those genes along toward that better evolution,” she said smugly.

  “Fix their genes?” I asked, surprised by her responses. It wasn’t sounding anything like what I thought this conversation would be. It almost sounded like she wanted to create something more than the monsters we had assumed were her goal and mission to destroy.

  She snorted. “Well there are plenty of other species that have come to be in a lab. But I’m not talking about creating a new species, necessarily. I unfortunately don’t have that much ability.” She laughed and picked at more of her salad.

  I watched her, wide-eyed, trying to figure out what it was she really wanted. “Could another species be created?” I asked.

  Marissa’s eyes lit up as she watched me ask my question. “You really do remind me so much of myself.” She smiled. “I’m sure I’ve told you that. I had always dreamed of potentially finding a cure to vampirism. But the more I studied them, the more I realized there are some traits which are alluring in the species. It’s hard to see what they are capable of, and the power they have, and want to simply erase that for good. Now if there was a way to be in more control of it, perhaps it would be exciting.”

  As she spoke of controlling the vampires, her eyes seemed to glow with an enthusiasm that was frightening. She caught herself and came back down to her normal level of flutter and activity. “But I’m speaking of things down the road, far down the road, of course. Our main focus, our primary focus is researching them to find a way to ensure that they are not hurting others. You saw what they are capable of, and we simply cannot have that danger out on the loose.”

  She was lying through her teeth. The only thing this conversation was telling me was that Marissa wanted to know everything she could about genetic differences between humans and vampires. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was she was looking for, but she was searching for something that would get her more power. She seemed eerily obsessed with the concept of mutating vampire genes to create some sort of powerful adaptation. I didn’t think it was possible. She had nothing to work with except the vampires and humans, which wouldn’t be enough. At least I hoped. The thought of Marissa creating something else altogether was rather alarming.

  “Thank you for this illuminating lunch. It has been wonderful. I should get back to the lab,” she said cheerfully, standing up and tossing her salad that only had two bites taken out of it.

  “Thank you,” I responded quickly, gathering my own meager lunch. “I’ll see you later.” I smiled and quickly left the common area to return back to my desk.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the time go by slowly. The research being done wasn’t nearly as informative as speaking directly to Marissa. In actuality, none of what I had looked at this week had really given away much.

  “You really must be on your way to get ready, my little worker bees,” Marissa’s shrill voice came in surround sound throughout our practically empty cube space. I turned and she was standing at the door, smiling at both myself and Intern Patrick. “Chop, chop. You have a gala to get ready for,” she said, hurrying us along.

  We both started gathering our things.

  I rushed home, nervous for the gala and what secrets I might be able to pick up while there.

  I realized I didn’t have very long to get ready. Not that I needed it. I simply would throw on a dress and some tinted ChapStick at this point.

  I pulled in and saw Seeley’s car. My stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing him before I had to leave. He wasn’t outside and I frowned, looking around. I let myself in and found him laughing with Abbey on the couch. I shook my head. He could be so reserved, but then other times he seemed so…human.

  “Well, this is a nice surprise,” I said, beaming as I entered into the living room.

  He got up and walked over to me, taking my bag and kissing my forehead.

  “I missed you,” he whispered.

  I blushed and bit my lip.

  “And that’s my cue,” Abbey’s voice came from behind us. “See you love birds later,” she said as she scampered off to her room and shut the door.

  “I wanted to see you before you left for the evening.” Seeley smirked at me once Abbey’s door was closed. “Even though, I’ll be there, too.”

  “Wait, what?” I said, surprised that he’d take an unnecessary risk like showing up at Falcone.

  “I’ll only be there for a minute. I just want to take a look at one or two exits and then I’ll be gone.” He shrugged, speaking softly so Abbey wouldn’t hear.

  “Seeley, no!” I said, raising my voice. “This is stupid. And reckless. There’s no need for you to be there. Tell me what you want to know and I’ll look.”

  “You have no idea what I’m looking for. And you wouldn’t be able to help. Leave the sleuth work to me. Just go dance and be seen.” He went to take my hand, but I pulled away.

  I narrowed my eyes at his superior tone. “You’re not going.”

  “You can’t stop me, Parker.” He kissed my cheek and started to head out.

  “I’m serious, please.” He was practically out the door before I got to him. “Don’t do this. You could get hurt, or taken. Then what would I…we do?” I asked, catching myself.

  “Nothing is going to happen, and the fact that you think I’m so easily overcome is disheartening,” he said.

  I had no idea why he seemed to be getting frustrated with me all of a sudden. He was the one being ridiculous. “I told you Marissa said that most of the benefactors would be there, which means I’m sure most of the hunters will be. I don’t want you to go and put yourself in danger,” I said. I wasn’t sure how to make him understand I was simply concerned for his safety. It had nothing to do with doubting him, or his abilities.

  “I don’t answer to you, Jules. I’ve allowed you to assist us, but I don’t need your permission. You don’t get to decide how this goes because you’re not one of us. Have fun tonight.” He slammed the door, and I growled in anger.

  Stupid vampire. How dare he!

  I stomped my foot in a childish move, but sometimes it just felt good to let it out. After a deep breath, I stormed back to my room to get ready. Henry would be here soon.

  I threw on my dress—a plain black one I’d had for special occasions—as quickly as I could and heard a soft knock at my door.

  “Can I come in, or will I get a snarl, too?” Abbey’s voice came through the closed door.

  She made me laugh and my agitation waned. “C
ome in,” I said. I held out my arms as she entered “Ta-da!”

  “No,” she said, a look of horror on her face. “No. No, I mean I’m not sure how else I can say no, but no.” She shook her head and circled me once. “Sit,” she ordered.

  I sat down, and she plugged in my barely used curling iron. “Don’t move,” she barked and left the room. She returned with her makeup bag and a red dress I instantly recognized. I groaned.

  “I put on lipstick,” I said in defense.

  She ran her finger over my lip. “What is this? Lipsmacker from ten years ago? No.”

  I laughed at her dismay. “Fine,” I pouted until I feared she may make the makeup worse than she was planning the more I protested.

  “But I’m not wearing that dress! Is that your semi-formal dress?” I asked.

  She grinned and drummed her fingers together in front of her face. “Yes, yes it is. And you’re wearing it. Knock it off and let’s do this.”

  Sitting patiently as Abbey’s doll was not a strength of mine and by the time the doorbell rang, I let out a giddy sigh of relief. She ran out of the room, giving me time to peek at the clock to confirm that we were now running late.

  “Don’t come back yet,” I heard Abbey shout.

  “Is it Henry?” I yelled. I was so anxious to see him again. There was so much to talk about, but more importantly, I just needed my normal, loving, fun friend with me. Life had gotten out of control since I’d begun to learn about the world around me. My constant was Henry, and I needed that back. At least I hoped. I wasn’t sure what he had to do or tell me, but nothing would change our friendship. I did know that.

  “Yes, but he needs to wait two more minutes.” Abbey sprayed some hairspray on my hair and giggled to herself.

  I started coughing on the large amounts of hairspray she was insisting on using.

  “Stop being dramatic,” she quipped. “Okay, put this on.” She helped me step into the dress and zipped it up for me. She didn’t have to zip far. The red dress was extremely low cut. “Take a look,” she said, giving the okay for my release.