Hunter

by Adrianne Lemke

“All right. Get in kids,” he said, giving up on questioning me further.

  I breathed a sigh of relief once he turned away. Not telling was one thing, lying outright was another. I could avoid topics pretty well, but I’ve never been good at telling a straight up lie.

  Jake chatted about his video game until we got to his room and put it into the player. In my opinion, video games are a massive waste of time, but it is more fun to play them with someone else. We played for a few hours, Jason’s emotions staying well into the background hum of my mind. “I should get going,” I said, looking at the clock. “I feel like walking, and my br- uh, family doesn’t want me out after dark.”

  “All right. See you on Monday.”

  After thanking Mr. Kendal for picking me up that morning, I started the long walk home. The evening air was cool and felt nice after spending most of the afternoon in front of a TV screen. The slight headache I’d gotten while playing the game dissipated as I walked toward the wooded area near my house.

  One of the trails through the woods had served as a shortcut home in the past, so I turned onto the path, prepared to enjoy a scenic walk instead of seeing the little stores along the road. This path took me over a small creek, where I stopped and watched as some fish swam around and a hawk soared nearby. I was sitting there when I felt like someone was watching me. Glancing around self-consciously, I caught a glimpse of someone’s arm behind a tree several yards away.

  I stared into the creek, wondering if I was just being paranoid, when my brother’s words came back to me: Paranoia is your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right. If you’re feeling paranoid, listen to the feeling and get away. It could end up saving your life. That had been shortly before we moved out here when I’d asked him why we had to move. He’d obviously been feeling a bit suspicious of everything at the time, and had been trying to make me understand.

  Tossing a rock into the creek, I made the decision to pretend I hadn’t seen the man behind the tree and walk normally until I got out of sight. There was a bend in the path up ahead that was mostly blocked by bushes and vines, so I’d be able to gain a lead there. If he wasn’t following me, then all I needed to worry about was feeling a little silly about my reaction.

  My heart was pounding when I started walking again, and I was moving stiffly, not giving the carefree impression I was trying for as I headed in the opposite direction of the man by the tree. Once I reached the bend, I risked a glance behind me and I saw a man kneeling by the edge of the creek where I’d been standing. The woods were shaded enough that I couldn’t see him clearly, just the shadow of him, but it seemed like he was looking right at me.

  I turned again and started sprinting, my breaths coming quickly as I ran to the edge of the woods. Even when the dirt path turned to cement sidewalk I kept running. I still couldn’t be sure the man had been following me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was. I reached the next wooded area and rushed up the nearly hidden driveway to my house, almost dropping my key in my hurry to get indoors. Jason wasn’t home yet, so I locked the door behind me and called him.

  “Jason, can you come home?” I asked, tears running down my face, either from fear or exertion as I struggled to get my breathing back under control.

  He didn’t ask questions. “I’m already on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks,” I said, hanging up and running a shaky hand over my eyes, wiping the tears off.

  I might have been over reacting, but I was sure I’d felt some kind of malice from the man. But that was impossible. I’ve never felt anything from anyone but my brother, which meant Jason was the only one whose emotions I could feel.

  Wasn’t he?

  NINE

  Hunter

  Nothing beats the thrill of hunting prey that knows it’s being hunted, and has a way to fight back. I always had an advantage, but they never knew unless they were talented enough at evasion and fighting for me to use it. Guns were forbidden in this particular game. Mostly my victims got a hunting knife, and I took the same for myself. It wouldn’t do to have too many people investigating gunshots during a non-hunting season. During hunting season, I would sometimes choose to use a gun.

  My prey got a half-hour head start. I would leave the door open and tell him to get out. The look of confusion they all had at this point was hilarious, and it always took a little while after I walked away and closed myself into another room before they crept out. One young man almost left without taking the knife, but must have decided it would be better to have it, because I heard him step cautiously back into the cabin, followed by the sound of metal sliding across the wooden table where I’d left it.

  Only one of my victims ever left the knife. In that case, I chased him sooner, and tossed the knife at his feet. None of my targets could escape, and all had to fight. All my prey lost, but some had come close to beating me. That’s when I would… well, cheat I guess. I had various methods. Sometimes I would make the ground drop out from under them; other times I’d have it grab at their feet as they ran. I also made a version of quicksand once near a body of water… which was interesting. The man started sinking, and I trapped him partway down by hardening the formerly soft soil. I didn’t have enough water here to make that trick work again.

  Everyone gave up when given evidence of my special power, so I made sure to use it only if it seemed like I was going to lose. The exception was fortifying the borders of my property, so none of them could get very far from the cabin. My hunting trips were meant to reenergize my mind, and that was only accomplished if the pursuit was challenging.

  This one was. The boy ran the borders of the property and then started sneaking around, leaving less of a trail for me to follow visibly or by feeling of the tread of his steps. This boy was good at hiding. I followed several false trails before finally spotting him by a tree. He took off at a sprint when he saw that I noticed him, but I didn’t give chase. I walked at a leisurely pace. Now that he was running again, his trail was clear as day.

  Besides, there was something else calling out for my attention: someone moving about a mile or two away that felt familiar. I’d felt faded footsteps near my cabin the night before, and the pattern was the same: he walked for a while, then stopped and put pressure in one spot on the ground in front of him, then got up and walked more. It probably had nothing to do with me, but his actions were curious.

  Now I was annoyed. The hunt would have to be postponed in order for me to have a chance to get a look at the other man, and the boy had gone to ground again. Making my decision, I memorized the mystery man’s tread pattern and went back to the hunt. It was a small town, after all. Chances were that I would come across him again at some point.

  The chase continued until I finally cornered the boy near the creek on the very edge of my property. “Don’t,” he pleaded, holding the knife in front of him while backing away. His hand shook and his voice was quivering.

  Wary of the knife he held, I approached him. I’d been cut a few times by those unskilled in knife fighting, and did not like the feel of the blade slicing into my own skin. The boy kept backing away until his foot almost slipped over the edge of the embankment. “Please, let me go,” his voice was hoarse from either yelling for help or lack of use or a combination of both, but he looked me in the eye as he spoke. “I won’t tell.”

  “No,” I agreed. “You won’t.”

  His eyes widened when I suddenly lunged at him, my knife going for his throat to cut off any screaming before it happened. I felt the nick of his blade across my forearm as he tried to fight back, but he soon dropped the knife and fell to his knees holding his neck weakly trying to put pressure on the gushing wound. He gasped a few times and fell, reaching with one hand for the knife.

  “Thank you for the hunt,” I said as I plunged the knife into his chest, effectively stopping any attempt he’d been making to get the blade. “It was very entertaining.”

  Less so than it could have been, though. I hadn
’t meant to make the neck wound so deep. It was more fun when they still had a little life in them to fight back, but he’d made a valiant effort. I wiped the blades on my shirt and headed back to the cabin for the tarp and cart I had waiting for moving the body. Before going back for the corpse, I put the knives into the sink to soak in bleach water, and washed my face, which was covered in blood from the spray of his neck wound.

  The fresh spray didn’t bother me so much as the sticky feeling as it cooled and congealed, so it was best to get it off before it got too annoying. Those tasks complete, I dragged the little cart through the woods to the creek and worked up a sweat getting the body wrapped up in the tarp and up into the cart. The bloody area I disguised by using my powers to shift the ground enough to hide the largest puddle. The rest would degrade on its own eventually. Since I control this area, it would be unlikely for anyone to come across it accidentally. Even if they did, it was likely they’d think the blood was from an animal.

  I stored the cart with the body in my shed to wait until there were no other people out on the trails, and then I would dump him off somewhere. He’d be found eventually. For now I needed to finish cleaning myself off, bury the clothing, and then go to town. I had some shopping to do, and I hoped to run into the mystery man so I would be able to find out if he was a threat or possible prey.

  It was late afternoon when I walked down the trail to town. I was about halfway there when I felt someone moving near the creek and decided to check it out. It was quick to find another victim, but maybe I could at least get an idea before the next time I came out.

  The steps belonged to a young boy—probably early teens—who was standing by the edge of the creek watching a hawk swooping around. As I watched, he stiffened and glanced in my direction, but then he relaxed and kept watching for a few minutes before heading back down the trail.

  When he disappeared around a bend, I stepped out from behind a tree and stared in the direction he’d headed, getting a feel for the steps he left, and considering. He was younger than any I went for in the past. Would he present enough of a challenge? I shook my head. For now, I needed to finish up with my former victim.

  Then I would hunt down the mystery man.

  TEN

  Jason

  Sam’s panicked call was exactly the excuse I needed to get away from the files of dead and missing children. I’d been at it for hours since Nickels had finally given up asking questions and gone out on a call. I grasped the phone like a lifeline and felt grateful for the distraction, until I heard his breathless fear.

  I assured him I was on my way, and hung up.

  Nickels walked into the room as I was getting ready to head out. Before he could speak I said, “I’ve gotta go. My brother needs me home. Tell Sheila I still need to finish with these. I’ll come back tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

  “Sure.” His eyes clearly showed his curiosity, but he had the sense not to ask. “Hope everything’s okay,” he said instead. “I’ll put these away for you.”

  I rushed out the door calling out, “Thanks,” as I left. Despite my brother’s fear, I was relieved to get away from the stuffy little room and Nickels’ questions, and out into the cool evening air.

  Sam wasn’t prone to panic. Through everything he had suffered in the past, he’d been calm and easy-going. When he’d been kidnapped and beaten, when he’d watched them kill our friend Erin, and when he’d been found and realized I’d been taken—all of those things, he’d gone through without the panic I’d heard in his voice today. I sped home even though I was leaving the police station, and managed to not get pulled over as I did so. “Sam!” I called out, entering the house.

  My brother was on the couch, looking both scared and embarrassed. “Jase, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I may have overreacted, but there was a guy in the woods while I was walking home, and I just got a bad feeling.”

  Shaking my head I sat next to him and put an arm across his shoulders. “Honestly, Sammy? I can’t blame you. You knew I was working a kidnapping case in the area, and you saw someone probably partially blocked by the shadows of the trees, which could scare anyone.”

  Including me. My little brother was not the paranoid type. If he got a bad feeling from someone, he probably had a good reason. “He was standing behind a tree when I was by the creek, and then came out and was staring after me when I walked out of sight. I don’t know… I guess I got a little anxious and overreacted once I got home. No one followed me, so there really wasn’t a reason for me to call.”

  Laughing, I responded, “You honestly did me a favor, kid. One of the cops was starting to ask me some questions again, so I was okay with you giving me an excuse to leave. Also, looking at files that long is rough. Besides,” I added a little more seriously, “I want you to call any time you need me. Even if you feel a little silly about it later.”

  He nodded and turned his attention to the news, which was running another story about the missing boy. They wouldn’t have anything new, so I changed stations with a sigh of frustration. “No luck with the trails?” Sam asked.

  I shook my head. “Wasn’t really expecting anything though. Sheila found a few other cases that seem similar, but I couldn’t prove it for sure yet.”

  If the cases were connected… what then? The other two boys in the files Sheila had dug up had been killed, their bodies found a few weeks after. Obviously with a normal kidnapping, it was unlikely that the victim would be alive this long after they’d been taken, especially when there was no ransom demand or contact from the kidnappers. If this case was connected, then we might expect to find him anytime within the next two weeks.

  Or it could be an elaborate hoax and his mother had done something to him. Always a possibility, but in this case, it seemed unlikely. “What’s my next step?” I questioned myself quietly. Sam looked over at me briefly, but didn’t respond to the question.

  I’d have to go over the files again, but first, “Sam, I want you to show me the area where you saw the man. Just in case there’s something connecting him. I want to find his footsteps and memorize them.”

  If this guy was a threat of any kind, I wanted the ability to find him and prove it.

  ELEVEN

  Sam

  The trails were quiet when Jason and I went out that Saturday night, and he found several echoes. He had been able to find the man’s prints because he could time it back to when I was there. There hadn’t been many other people through since my follower and me, so it was easy for my brother to use his abilities to find them.

  He was worried. In spite of his light tone and joking around I could tell he was concerned. By now we both had a pretty good sense about people and who would or wouldn’t be a threat, so he seemed to take me at my word that there was something off about that guy. It was almost funny that I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him again, but Jason, who hadn’t been there, would be able to identify him easily.

  Sunday passed quietly. I didn’t leave the house, but Jason went out again to look at the files at the police station. Unfortunately, the people who normally let him in were not there, so he was told to come back the next day. He came home frustrated that he was being stalled, and went out onto the trails again.

  The only things I did were finish homework and watch television. But Jason didn’t seem inclined to get me to go outside for anything, so by the time Monday rolled around I was very ready to go to school. Anything was better than dwelling on the strange man or the case my brother was working on. Even a math test was an improvement.

  “So how’d you do?” Jake asked from behind me once we both handed in our test sheets.

  I shrugged, “Not sure. Pretty well, I guess.”

  “Hey, you all right?” Becky asked. She had been sitting in the desk next to me all year, but almost never talked to me.

  “Fine, why?”

  She shrugged, her cheeks reddening as she stared at her desktop. “I dunno,” she mumbled. “You just seem a little distracted t
oday, that’s all.”

  “Enough talking. There are still people working on the test,” our teacher scolded. “Those who are done can work on other homework. The assignments for tomorrow are written on the board.”

  Distracted, frustrated, and probably a little nervous. All these feelings were not my own, so I tried to push them away. Jason never handled children in danger very well. Too close to our own childhood, I guess. I turned my attention back to the board to get the next assignments written into my notebook. “Hey,” I hissed at Becky. She looked up, surprised by my initiating conversation. “Thanks for asking,” I said with a slight smile.

  She smiled shyly and hunched back over her book, scribbling answers onto the page. The class period was almost over. Lunch was coming up next, giving me a little time to sort out my feelings from Jason’s, so I could concentrate better in the next few classes.

  My day was going fine. I had no reason to be frustrated or nervous. Except that I always mirrored Jason’s feelings to some extent. If he was nervous or angry, then I would worry about what was bothering him. It was kind of a cyclical problem that I hadn’t managed to figure out in the almost five years of living with him. It was a blessing that I couldn’t sense anyone else’s emotions, because I’d then also have to separate those feelings from my own.

  It was also a blessing that I could feel Jason’s mental state. Without my ability, I would have no clue how much hurt and fear he tried to hide from me on a daily basis. Although I wouldn’t worry about him so much if I didn’t know about it. Knowing Jason’s moods wasn’t always useful, because Jason didn’t know I knew.

  I sighed. My problem wouldn’t be solved in fourth period algebra. Most likely, I’d have to tell Jason about my ability so we could figure out something together instead of trying to figure it out by myself. But then we’d have to deal with him realizing that every feeling he’d tried to keep private had been shared for the last five years.