Instead of teleporting back home, we agreed that it would be nice to walk the streets and see what’s changed over the years on our way. Most of our lives, we’ve lived in the castle with King Ohauris and Cas, but with permission, the king granted us an apartment just a few blocks away. Living with him for so long had spoiled us, and although I enjoyed eating from golden spoons, I felt like we needed to start living and taking care of ourselves. We couldn’t live in the castle forever. We weren’t royalty.
Bradly sighed. “Nothing here has changed at all.”
When I looked around, I saw exactly what he meant. The Hunters Dimension looked exactly the same as it did two years ago, but I didn’t expect it to change much. It had only been two years. Still, I at least expected there to be something new around here. Things in the Human Dimension were always changing, but here, it was as if we were just at a standstill.
Our city was something straight out of a futuristic fantasy game that Normals enjoyed playing in the Human Dimension. I actually enjoyed the games myself, but only played when no one was around. I guess at times, I had forgotten about my mission as a hunter while I was at the orphanage, and even though no one really liked me, I felt like I was a part of something. Something like a family, and I’m sure that Bradly felt the same.
Tall black and brown glistening buildings stretched down both sides of the street. Hunter’s dressed in black cloaks surrounded us, packing the streets as usual. Some were training with swords and chains, some were talking in groups, and some…well I didn’t know where everyone was going but I did know that at this time of night, the bars tended to fill.
It was the only time that hunters ever got to relax until they were sent off on a mission to either kill or catch witches and wizards. I wondered how much of the magic population was left compared to ours. A lot of them got away during the raids, so how many enemies did we have exactly?
It probably didn’t really matter since we were going to come out of top anyways.
Where we could grasp onto our abilities without much effort, witches and wizards had to train their asses off just to get their powers to do something simple. The only downfall to that on our side was that the witch and wizard masters were nearly invincible. The only reason that some even retreated was to help the rest of their coven, but they could face us if they wanted to.
“Alright, I’ve seen enough,” I sighed. “Meet you inside.”
“Okay, I’ll be up there soon.”
In a blink of an eye, I stepped forward and teleported into my apartment.
It was pitch black inside, so I turned around to head for the light switch by the door, but the moment that I took a step towards it, I felt a presence behind me, and I was sure that it wasn’t Bradly’s.
“Who’s there?” I asked while forming a pair of daggers in my hands.
No one answered, but the presence came closer. I could hear his steady breathing.
Without hesitation, I swiped my daggers around, only to feel my arm being caught by two hands. Yanking it back, I jabbed my dagger at the dark shadow, but he teleported to my right side and slammed a kick down into the back of my knee.
My knee buckled, and I landed onto the wooden floor in a kneeling position, but when I saw something glistening slice through the air towards me, I crossed my daggers above my head and stopped the weapon. Upon impact, I could tell that it was a sword that I blocked.
Who the hell was trying to kill me?
The swordsman pulled his sword away, and I quickly got back to my feet with my daggers ready. “Who are you?”
The swordsman jabbed his sword at me, but I side stepped and slammed that back of my dagger over his fingers. He grunted and dropped the sword, and just as he did, I teleported behind him and held my dagger to his throat.
“I asked you a question,” I said through gritted teeth. “Who are―”
The light flickered on, and Bradly stood at the door with wide eyes. “Beatrice! What the heck are you doing to Cas!?
My eyebrows furrowed, but as the man in front of me turned his head to the side, I noticed a familiar goofy grin. “Hey, B. Care to lower the dagger?”
I frowned with warming cheeks and stepped back. “Cas?”
Cas chuckled. “Was just making sure you didn’t lose your touch. You’re still a beast in the dark, I see.”
I sighed. “You shouldn’t do that. I could’ve killed you.”
Cas turned around to face me. “Ah, I wasn’t worried. If I really wanted to take you down, I could have.”
“Oh, really?” I asked raising a brow.
“Most definitely.”
Bradly gave a loud sigh and walked towards the hall on his right. “Here we go again.”
Cas and I turned to watch Bradly disappear into the shadows.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing. I’ll be sleeping while you two flirt with each other,” Bradly responded.
My cheeks warmed, but luckily it was too dim for Cas to notice them turn red. When he turned back to face me, he had an embarrassed grin on his face.
I tried to fake my embarrassment by flipping my lip upwards. “I’d never flirt with you.”
Cas chuckled. “Right. You’re like a sister to me.”
My eyes only slightly widened. That was literally the worst thing he ever could’ve said. Not only was I friend zoned, but sister zoned too?
Doesn’t matter anyways. He’s a prince, and I’m just some half breed hunter. I never had a chance.
I walked over to my black leather couch and plopped down onto the soft cushion. If I rested my head back and closed my eyes, I was sure that I’d pass out. It’s been a long, agonizing day and all I really wanted to do was sleep and forget about it.
The image of Ms. Jones glaring at me through cold eyes flashed behind mine. I knew that I did the right thing by having her brought here since she was a traitor, but it felt wrong. When she took us in, she thought that she was helping us. She fed us, taught us, and laughed with us. She was pretty much the only one in the orphanage that liked us since we weren’t really the nicest people there. At least I wasn’t. Bradly managed to make a small group of friends, and it was nice to see him enjoying himself. Pretending to be a Normal wasn’t as bad as I originally thought it would be.
“Is everything alright?” I heard Cas ask.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I sat up and tried to offer a smile, but he could see right through it.
Untying his cloak, he took it off and folded it over the arm rest, then sat down next to me dressed in a pair of black pants and a white t-shirt. We both faced the white wall, and I started to miss having a TV to watch. Hunters didn’t use such things, and we probably never would.
“So, what’s on your mind?” Cas asked.
Rolling my eyes, I let my head drop back. “What makes you think there’s anything on my mind? Maybe I’m just exhausted.”
“Ah, I grew up with you. Dos lao ton ju cer.” I know you.
“Cer tank cer lao ton ma.” You think you know me.
He chuckled. “Dos du.” I do.
“Vespertan.” Whatever.
“Now, tell me what’s on your mind.”
I tilted my head towards him with a roll of my eyes, then blinked and teleported to the rooftop. My legs hung over the edge, and I sat back on my hands.
When Cas appeared at my side, I sighed. “Go away, Cas.”
“I won’t until you tell me what’s going on. Come on.” He gently bumped my shoulder with his. “It’s been two years. You used to always talk to me. What’s going on?”
I sighed and stared out at the city while wondering what it was like when there were witches and wizards here. I bet it was brighter and livelier. Now, it was usually either gray or dark.
“It our capture,” I said, running my fingers through my neck length black hair.
“Oh, the traitor?”
I frowned, slightly offended. “Her name is Ms. Jones.”
Cas slowl
y nodded. “Right, sorry.” He took a deep breath. “I take it that you’re worried about her?”
“Worried is an understatement,” I replied in barely a whisper. “She’ll be put to death, and I don’t feel right about it.”
Cas nodded again. “You got attached to her. I get that.”
My brows pulled into a tighter frown. “No, you don’t. You’ve never let someone you cared for get put to death. You’ve never had to.”
Cas was quiet, only watching me through his soft brown eyes. That’s when I remembered the story of his mother’s death. She was labeled a traitor and put to death by her own husband, executed the year before we arrived. Cas was only nine years old then.
I sighed, feeling like a complete ass-hole now.
“Ms. Jones…She was nothing but kind to Bradly and me, and she didn’t even sense that we were hunters. She wasn’t expecting this to be the outcome of us living there.” I took a frustrated breath. “She doesn’t deserve this. How can she even be a traitor if she never made the hunters oath anyways? Ms. Jones never wanted to be a hunter. She was just born as one. She helped witches and wizard because…because…” Why did she help them?
“Because she’s a kind-hearted person,” Cas said, leaning back on his hands. “But I’m only going off of what you just told me about her.”
I nodded. “No, you’re right. She’s kind hearted. She took Raven and Triana in without a second thought, and Felix had lived with her for a while. I wonder why she didn’t sense me as a hunter though? Usually, hunters can sense each other, but she didn’t sense anything different about me. She just thought I was another Normal.”
“Maybe she only sensed the good in you.” Cas pulled up a slight smile. “Maybe she didn’t want to see the hunter too?”
I sighed and looked away. How could I feel like I betrayed a traitor? Even if she never made the hunters oath, she was still a traitor, right? Just like my father. The only difference was that he did make the oath.
What in the world made the both of them accept witches? Didn’t they know that witches and wizards were the scum of the earth? They used magic, and magic―well, magic was in me…
“You ever think that maybe witches and wizards aren’t bad at all?” Cas asked as he gazed out at the city.
My eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Cas’ eyelids lowered. “I mean…What if we’re the bad guys?”
Chapter Four: The Door
For the past few weeks, Cas’ question lingered in my mind. I mean, what if we were the bad guys? Raven and Triana certainly didn’t seem like it. If anything, they were just trying to get away from us, and then there was Ms. Jones. She was only defending them, and Felix was practically harmless, but us? We had the weapons, and we were doing all the attacking.
From my end, it seemed as if we were doing the right thing. We were hunters and magic created us to stop those who used magic to prevent chaos. We were created to cleanse the earth of witches and wizards…or maybe Coven Gold got it all wrong. Maybe we were only being punished, and hunting gave us a reason to exist.
No. What we’re doing is right. Magic could be used for wrongdoings, and we exist to prevent that.
“Hey, Beatrice. Are you alright?” Willow asked before biting down into an apple.
“Yeah, you’ve been quiet all morning,” Ariqe said from my left.
The three of us were walking down the street to head for the training grounds. There was literally never anything better to do around here.
I turned to Ariqe and stared into his one blue eye. His other was blinded during one of the raids, so he used his long black hair to keep it covered. “Oh, I’m fine. Really.”
“You sure?” Willow raised a skeptical brow. “You’ve been weird ever since you been home.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just getting used to being here again. Two weeks has nothing on two years.”
“Okay.” Willow took another bite of her apple. “Just making sure.”
My lip curled. “Ew, don’t talk with your mouth full.”
Willow and Ariqe were both a part of my squad. Once Bradly was old enough, he’d join us, and Cas was our squad leader. Mostly, Cas leaves Willow in charge because she’s the most experienced. Her last squad all died in a coven raid, so she was added to ours, making us official.
The day Willow joined our squad was the day we became close friends. She wasn’t the nicest girl in the world, and I was just outright mean most of the time, so we found a lot in common between the both of us. Ariqe was the quiet, dangerous one, and Cas was our sarcastic, light hearted leader. Eventually, we’ll have a goof troop on our squad.
The three of us walked to the training grounds where we trained together. After two weeks of playing catch up, I was back to being just as good as I was before I left for the orphanage. Willow and I were practically rivals, but Ariqe was on a completely different level. Even with Willow’s experience, she couldn’t match him. That’s exactly why he was the dangerous one. Ariqe was fast and swift with a chain. He was even a challenge to our own prince Cas.
After training, the three of us went our separate ways. I headed back home on foot to watch the sunset. It was hidden behind a group clouds, as usual, but I could see its yellow light trying to break through. Unfortunately, it never has before, but I bet it used to shine bright at one point in time.
By the time I got home, it was dark out. Once inside, I showered, dressed in a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt, then dropped down onto my back in bed. It felt nothing like my bed at the orphanage, and although more comfortable, it just wasn’t as satisfying to sleep on.
I missed my one flat pillow and squeaky bunk bed. I knew that I was too old to be bunking with my little brother, but it didn’t bother me at all. The two of us would argue back and forth until we fell asleep, and usually, it was with smiles on our faces.
I sighed and turned my head to see the moon shining right outside my window. At least that wasn’t blocked out by the clouds.
Turning to my other side, I pulled the covers up to my shoulder and shut my eyes.
~The Hunters~
I was dreaming that I was falling. There was nothing above me, and nothing below me. Just pure darkness. At first, I was frightened, but as I continued to fall for what would be forever, I realized that there was nothing to be afraid of, because nothing awaited me at the bottom. There was no ground, no light, just…nothing.
Usually, people were afraid of the future because they didn’t know what the future held, but I knew. I knew that nothing would ever come of falling. Not even death. Just darkness, and loneliness.
Forever.
Closing my eyes, I pictured my parents standing side by side with their backs to me. My father was dressed as a hunter, and my mother, as a witch. There was something beautiful about the way they stood strong together with their hands locked in one another’s. Did they know that night would be the end of them? What could they have been thinking?
Why didn’t they just run away with us instead?
Deeply inhaling, I felt the softness of a cushion under my back, and when I blinked a few times, I found myself in my bed. It was still dark out, and the moon was still outside my window, shining brightly into my room.
I sat up and wiped the sweat from my forehead. “I must not have been asleep long.”
I rolled my shoulders and got out of bed since I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep for a while. Instead, I was just going to go for a long walk until I was tired again, but as I headed for the window, something in my peripheral stopped me in my tracks.
Slowly turning to face my bed, my eyes widened, and my mouth dropped. “What the bloody hell?”
Lying in my bed, sound asleep, was me. I was still sleeping on my side with the cover pulled up to my shoulder, but how? Was I dead? No. I was breathing and alive in bed. This had to just be another dream.
But…it didn’t feel like one.
Backing away from the bed, I bumped into my open window with my sh
aking hands against the windowsill. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched myself sleep peacefully like nothing was wrong, and then to make things worse, my bedroom door burst open.
I screamed, a sound that I wasn’t used to hearing, then grew rigid as an unfamiliar hunter stepped through my doorway. His face was covered, and his hood was pulled up, so all I could see were his light brown eyes and his black vertical stripe in the center of his pale face.
“What the―Who are you?” I asked. I held my hand out, waiting on a dagger to appear, but nothing happened.
The hunter stepped further into my room, his weight causing the floor to creak. “Magic is unclean. Witches are unclean. Wizards are unclean. Beasts are unclean,” the hunter’s deep voice echoed. “All must be exterminated to cleanse the world of impurity.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “That’s great, but what the hell does that have to do with you being here?”
The hunter raised his sword and pointed it directly at me. “I am here to cleanse.”
When the hunter charged at me, my eyes widened. I tried to call on my daggers again, or any weapon for that matter, but nothing happened. I couldn’t use my hunter abilities!
In a split second, the hunter tackled me through the window. The air was knocked out of me, but I quickly got it back as so much whizzed by, and the moment my brain was able to function again, I began twisting and turning in the hunter’s hold.
Grabbing onto his shoulders, I head-butted him twice, but it didn’t seem to affect him.
I clenched my teeth and tried again, but still got no reaction, and he didn’t let up. “Is your head made of steel!?” Letting go of his shoulders, I began punching him in the face multiple times until my time was up.
The ground was coming in on us fast, and in only a few seconds, we landed.
What I didn’t get was how we didn’t die and why we landed in snow.
Both the hunter and I tumbled down a steep hill, which I soon realized was a tall mountain. Snow stung my face as I rolled down the hill after the hunter, but that didn’t stop me from trying to grab onto anything I could get my hands on.
The Hunters (The Coven Series Book 2) Page 2