A Hunter By Any Name

by Sheila Wireman

  I studied my surroundings and noticed a glow of the street lights in the night sky off to one end of the cemetery. I turned and walked in the opposite direction of the glow, knowing the glow came from the street lights of the town. I walked through the cemetery listening to the night sounds waiting for a change in them ready to run if needed. But as my eyes searched in and around the head stones for someone lying in wait for me I saw the cemetery as the peaceful resting place it was and knew I was safe at least for now.

  I saw the headstones grouped together by families. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. I wondered not for the first time if my parents had grave stones in a cemetery somewhere. Or had my Aunts and Uncles simply had them cremated. I reflected how during the first few years after they had died I was haunted by this question. It had nagged at me again and again but over time the question had faded. I tried to remember the last time I had wondered about my parent’s graves and couldn’t remember.

  It was like wanting a boyfriend. When I was a teen and on the run I wanted nothing more than to have a boyfriend. But eventually I realized boyfriends led to love. Love led to marriage. Marriage led to children, female children. Virgin teen girls called to wizards. If I had a family no one would be fighting the wizards. My daughters would be in danger. No it was best that I just keep hunting and keep the girls that were already in the world safe.

  But walking along in the peaceful cemetery with the True Sight spell pushing its way into all the thoughts that popped into my head my normally solidly strong self-discipline failed me. I saw all the possible paths my life could have taken. Grief and despair washed over me as I mourned their loss. I saw a soft patch of grass next to a headstone and all I wanted to do was lie down and curl up on that patch of grass and let sleep overtake me.

  But the image of the teen girl that was the intended victim of my current prey flashed in my head. I felt the weight of being responsible for her life added to the weight of the world that was already resting on my shoulders. The added weight of her life felt twice as heavy as the weight of the world I already felt. My eyes traveled to the soft patch of grass as it called to me and I gazed on it longingly. But my legs betrayed me as they kept walking down the path leading me away from its comforting softness.

  Was it wrong that the weight of one teen girl felt heavier than the combined weight of the rest of the world? I pondered this as I kept trudging along. I examined what I knew about the girl that was my prey’s intended victim. Her name was Stephanie. I had followed her for a day. I had snooped through her school records. I had broken into her house and looked at the family’s photo albums, their bills and even the items hidden away in their underwear drawers.

  I had learned that her biological father had run off on her and her mother when Stephanie was ten. He had ended up addicted to drugs and was currently in jail. Her mother had worked two part time jobs for a while to provide for her daughter. The mother had met a man and remarried. The girl had started doing drugs, like her “real” dad. However, the new husband had been patient with her. They had gone to counseling and become a family. The mother and new husband eventually had a baby and the teen girl felt every bit as important as the new baby. Stephanie was starting to make plans to go to college. She had big hopes and dreams. The kind that were dangerous for me to have.

  No. I answered to myself. It wasn’t wrong that her fate weighed more heavily on me than the fate of the rest of the world. I knew her face. I knew her attacker’s face. I knew how to keep her safe. She was first and foremost my responsibility. I would put her before the rest of the world.

  I had a job to do. No one else was going to do it. I straightened my shoulders as I willed resolve into conviction that I would save the girl and kill the wizard that hunted her. He needed killing. I knew how to kill him. I could kill him. I was going to kill him. I straightened up my back and picked up the pace of my walk and then broke out into an easy run at a pace that I could sustain for a few hours. I was on the hunt once again.

  Once again the True Sight spell proved to be nasty. I had seen my true self and she was a mean nasty bitch.

  Chapter 14

  I woke up and froze because everything around me seemed out of place. It took me a few minutes to remember the strange vehicle I was in, the events that had transpired the previous night, and how they had led me to where I was currently. The first thing I remembered was that my hatred of subdivisions had been fortified last night. The roads of subdivisions wind round and round and go nowhere.

  I had wasted a good hour trying to get out of Chelsea by running along back roads that just wound around subdivisions. There only seemed to be a couple of major roads that led out of town and I had been trying to avoid them. Finally in the end I had stumbled upon a dirt road that led me out of town.

  Crazy, huh? Last night as I ran down that dirt road in the dark not know if I was every getting out of the town I had thought that town was purposely trying to keep people out. But then I wondered if it was actually trying to keep people in. That had been a scary thought late at night and had reminded me of a horror movie I had watched as a teen about a lady that couldn’t leave a mansion in an English country side. It had motivated me to run even harder.

  In the end I worked my way west of Chelsea until I came upon another upscale little town and had jacked the car I currently sat in. It was an Acura and was a cross between a car and an SUV that was so popular lately. I could see why. It was a nice car with good horse power and handled well.

  Unfortunately the CR-V was a loss. For all I know it was still sitting in the parallel parking space I had worked so hard to park it in. I had left my purse with my ID and about two grand in the CR-V. Thankfully, I had left half of my money stashed with my extra weapons. Last night I had retrieved my extra weapon stash and money and they were in the vehicle with me.

  The extra weapons and money had been in a rundown abandoned building in a poor part of Jackson. A different building than the abandoned steel manufacturing facility that I had been sleeping in. I wasn’t planning on going back there again either.

  Getting out of Chelsea and retrieving my weapons had taken me all night to accomplish. Then I had drove west down 94 for 25 minutes until I came to a rest stop. There I had traded license plates on the stole Acura with a similar Acura when its owners had stopped to use the restroom. Finally I had gotten some sleep.

  I sat up in the seat of the Acura and rolled my neck trying to work the kink out of it. I didn’t succeed and gave up. I needed to find a wizard and kill him. But first I needed to find a clean bathroom. I examined the building of the rest stop I was currently parked in and everything seemed normal. However, it looked like I had better be satisfied with finding a functioning bathroom that did not make me gag. Functional bathrooms that didn’t make you gag, what more could a girl as for?

  Oh, yea, not dying. Not dying, functional bathrooms and not gagging that is what I hoped for out of life.

  Chapter 15

  As I drove through Jackson to Stephanie’s house I studied the city of Jackson. I must admit Jackson Michigan was beginning to grow on me. At first I had appreciated it for all of the abandoned buildings. There had been plenty of abandoned buildings to choose from for my stash spot for my extra weapons and a separate place for me to sleep at night.

  I had long ago realized the importance of dividing up my weapons and money in different caches. When one location was compromised then I had a backup cache to rely on. Because of this practice I had hopes of salvaging my current hunt. The supplies from my back up cache were now all the supplies I had. Well those and my sword and knife I kept on me at all times.

  But all the abandoned buildings that provided good cache locations was not why Jackson was beginning to grow on me. It was the fact that the city was like the little poor third world child that was fighting overwhelming odds to survive and had won by surviving. The survival may not be ideal but by third world standards the child is a success because he or she had survived and he or she eve
n grew up to have a family of his or her own. Granted they lived in a shack with no running water, used a ditch out back for a toilet and only 50% of their children survive but their continued existence is a success.

  Jackson Michigan is that third world child. In a land of 15 billion dollar mansions and private jets Jackson struggles to exist. It has numerous reminders of a time when it was a grand city with wondrous old architecture around the down town area. Most grand old buildings are now repurposed, divided up, or just simply abandoned. The vast majority of the houses in the city are under $100k and families struggle to survive in a world where 1% of the people have the majority of the wealth. They just go to work each day and work hard to get their small share of the money. They support their families while making the 1% even richer. All the while convincing themselves that they are leading happy productive lives.

  Yea, that is the United States with Wizards in charge. But by tomorrow I hoped there would be one less wizard in the world curtesy of yours truly. All I needed to do was find him and kill him. Easy peasy lemon squeezy....hopefully…maybe…okay probably not…but maybe I wouldn’t get hurt….okay I will settle for not dying. Not dying is good.

  I finally made it to Stephanie’s house and as I suspected it was a flurry of activity. There numerous cars parked along the street. There was also two police cars with police officers that were casting stern looks at the few reporters mingling along the side walk waiting like vultures for the family to make an appearance.

  The wizard had struck like I suspected. I resented the strange men that had prevented me from following my prey and making my job more difficult. I smiled contentedly when I remembered the napkin tucked in my bra. Folded inside the napkin was one of Stephanie’s hairs. I had tucked it safely inside my bra when I was searching her room three days ago. I know what you are thinking and yes, I had changed my bra once since then. But I had checked to make sure the hair still remained in the napkin and transferred it to my new bra.

  Yes, I know. I only changed my bra once in three days. Fine I have been wearing the same bra and clothes for two days. But cut me a little slack here people. I am juggling running for my life and saving a 15 year old virgin. I am going to get a little ripe smelling from time to time.

  Now back to my point. With the hair I could cast the tracking spell and find Stephanie. I kept basic spell ingredients with my back up weapons. I had better get busy because it was already pushing 6pm. The ritual would take a half an hour to complete before he actually killed Stephanie sacrificing her life to gain power. The wizard would want this sacrifice to take place at exactly midnight when the full moon was directly overhead. He would probably arrive an hour early to start preparations.

  Plus, I need to scout the area to find a good hiding location for my car. It needed to be far enough away to not be visible but still easily accessible if I need a quick getaway. Next, I needed to be in my hiding spot at least an hours before midnight to give the earth time to acclimate to my presence and not give me away. I didn’t want something as simple as the lack of crickets chirping to be my demise.

  I needed to accomplish all of this in the next six hours. Oh, and don’t forget the killing the wizard. Yep, can’t forget that. Oh, and one more thing staying alive. Yes, that was important as well.

  I drove to the park where I had first saw Stephanie. I figured starting my search for her there had a sense of balance. Mother Earth liked balance and was constantly struggling to maintain balance. The Goddess was deeply connected to Mother Earth and what made Mother Earth happy made The Goddess happy.

  That is why I always strived to maintain balance in my life and everything I did. I didn’t steal more than what I absolute needed to get my job done. I tried to give more than I took in my relationships with people. Plus, I tried to be as environmentally friendly as possible which if you didn’t count the gas I used and emissions I created by driving all over the United States I did a good job of being environmentally friendly. I just hoped killing evil wizards off set the use of gas.

  I opened the car door and got out. The quietness of the surroundings seemed unnatural. Unlike my previous visit to the park when it was teeming with a flurry of people and activity, the park now stood barren. Everyone had forsaken it for the safety of their homes. I guess an abduction of a teen girl in the neighborhood had that effect on people.

  The joy and energy of the people in the park had made the park a happy exciting place. Now that it stood empty I was able to see the park’s infrastructure for what it was. Old. But the park was still loved. The old metal finger pitching chains had been replaced with new plastic ones. A new toddler seat had been hung. The climbing structure that the little boy had been sliding down was new. The teeter totters were the old wooden kind but had a new coat of paint. This was an older park but provided people with many happy times.

  This thought woke me up from my trance. The park did not like being empty. It had an unfulfilled purpose that was creating an unbalanced state. Yes, The Goddess would like me starting my journey here. A place where this wizard was creating imbalance. I was working to correct this balance and stop the terrible acts he was committing. Mother Earth and The Goddess would be on my side for this hunt. That would give me a bit more of an edge for this hunt and with this powerful of a wizard I needed all the extra help I could scrap together.

  I opened a Chiquita Banana box labeled “Kitchen Supplies”. I took out a glass, bottle of water, toothpick box, and a small zip lock bag labeled “Spaghetti Spice”. I filled the glass half full with water and reached in my bra and pulled out a paper towel. I unrolled it and picked off a hair in the center of it. I dropped the hair into the water, then I emptied the bag of Spaghetti Spice into the glass. I held the glass up to the sun and chanted the spell over the glass.

  Goddess grant me permission

  Permission to harness the power of the North

  While I honor the South, East, and West,

  I pray to the North to point me in the direction of my target.

  I pray to the Goddess to help me in this honorable quest.

  Finally I opened the toothpick box and brought out a small magnet with a hand drawn arrow on the top face of it. I carefully floated the magnet in the water and watched it spin a few times before it settled on the direction.

  I then cleaned up my supplies and stored them away in the back of the Acura. I took the glass of water to the front and got in. I put the water glass in the cup holder.

  I was comforted by the ritual. I gave a sigh and it felt like Mother Earth sighed with me. She was contented that someone was trying to help her restore balance. I said a prayer to The Goddess begging her for her help as well.

  Then I drove off in the direction the little arrow was pointing.

  Chapter 16

  I was sitting uncomfortably deep within a raspberry patch and getting restless. I eyed the thorns of the raspberries all around me thankful for their presence. They were motivating me to remain absolutely still. I had already gotten a few deep scratches on my legs from them as I had crept into their midst to wait. But the only alternative hiding place I had seen had been covered in poison ivy vines. I will take the scratches over an itch rash any day.

  I had been sitting here for a long time, much longer than I had anticipated. I knew from the position of the moon that it was almost midnight and my prey had not shown up yet. I was getting a little anxious. Okay, fine, I am just plain scared.

  This hunt had spooked me in a way that I had not been in a long time. All the rules seemed to be changing on me. First the wizard I hunted was an unusually powerful one. Second, he did not hunt along the oceans or other large bodies of waters like all the other wizards had. Third, there were the Arihants that should be the ones killing Wizards but instead were hunting me. How long had they been following me? How much did they know? Were they still hunting me?

  The whole evening from the time I cast the finding spell gave me déjà vu and reminded me of the evening when I found the last girl
s body. The night I had started the hunt for this wizard. I didn’t know if it was a foreboding that this night would end badly. Or was it a sign that I was circling back around to the start of my hunt and therefore I was drawing to the end of it? The Goddess loved circles so I hoped it was the latter.

  But sitting here in the dark, all alone I was scared I had done something wrong. I had not actual gone inside or even close to the barn I was staking out. I had not seen or heard Stephanie. I was trusting the little arrow I had drawn onto a magnet and I had not even done a very good job at drawing it. The arrow had remained pointed in the direction of the barn as I had circled it. I had not dared to approach it because I knew that the wizard had more than likely cast spells on the barn to alert him if someone had been near it. Not to mention that there were defiantly at least one protection spell on the barn aimed at incapacitating or killing anyone that approached.

  It would not have been a problem for me to disarm the spells although with this strong of a wizard they would have left me drained. No, the tricky part would have been recasting them. If the Wizard that cast them was any indication they would be truly evil spells and my heart would not have felt the spell. For a spell to work well your heart had to feel it. Therefore, I would not be able to recast the spells sufficiently to fool the wizard I hunted. When he returned he would have instantly known someone had been here.

  So I was left sitting outside the barn in the raspberry thorns scared that I had done something wrong, filled with “What If’s”.

  What if I had cast the spell wrong? What if it had not actually been Stephanie’s hair on her pillow? What if the wizard had accidently killed her and dumped her body in the barn? What if I am sitting outside a barn with a rotting corpse inside? What if the wizard is right this very second sacrificing a different poor girl in a different barn somewhere?