Seducing Two Serial Killers

by Hutchins, Hollie

  Vigilante justice. The whole reason for Hunts to exist in the first place. Let the humans enter our world by taking care of someone we hate. Trading one shifter's life and gaining another. That's our way.

  My blood stirs in spite of myself.

  Once the crowd quietens, the Hunters are led to their starting positions, spread out over eight entrances. My eyes fixate on Emma. Seeing her there, she looks so small, so vulnerable. How can she possibly survive this? Hunts can get brutal. Sometimes the Hunters collaborate together, but in the underground ones, anything goes. She could die. Right in front of my eyes. I want to bust it up, but exposed to international shifters, I may as well nail down both mine and father’s coffins. That’s if I don’t get poisoned first. She’s got djinni as well – they’ll form an exit route that spans oceans.

  There’s nothing I can do but watch.

  I wonder, since this Carla's going for a jungle theme, if there's any poisonous creatures in it. I certainly wouldn't put it past her. This is snake territory, what she's placed down there for the Hunters.

  A hush falls upon the crowd. The countdown’s on the screen, with the commentator gleefully stating the numbers.

  Bang.

  All eight Hunters dash into the jungle maze under a roar of approval from the crowd. Tarren’s alternating between watching Emma and settling his gaze upon Karhold. I can tell when it shifts to Karhold, because his face takes on a harsh, almost blade-like edge. He’d probably pay millions just to be the one down there ending the rapist’s life.

  Karhold's disappeared into a thick patch of foliage, and the cameras have temporarily lost sight of him in the darkness, prompting a few jeers from the crowd. The humans, meanwhile, are frantically looking for weapons in the brush. One of them has a near encounter with a snake, but wisely retreats instead of risking her life for the object it’s curled around.

  I wonder. if Emma won, would she transform into a shifter? What would she choose? Better not be tiger or Falak. I think I've had enough of those to last a lifetime.

  There's an inherently different atmosphere with these games. Janus's had a loose feel about it, quite seedy and lowlife. Carla's feels like a professional endeavor, and she has so many prominent shifters in her audience that the security is ridiculous, since each of them needed to bring their own protection. But really, I think they didn't need to bring any. I highly suspect Carla must have some arrangement with the police, too. Mads and Steina came in as Tarren's bodyguards, but they seem to be just as taken with the spectacle as everyone else. Maybe it's different in Europe. Maybe they have plenty of blood and slaughter there. Or maybe it's all civilized.

  I spot Emma at last, and she's still on the far edge of the jungle, now shimmying her way through a vine-choked area. The screens now show another contestant heading in her direction, and I instantly tense. She picks up something from the ground. A machete. Good for hacking through dense jungle. Emma hefts the wide blade up, testing it on the vines. Takes her a few hacks, but now she's able to progress better than before – since squeezing through dense foliage is not fun, even for someone as thin as Emma.

  “And it's Adam Cusack who is heading into Emma's way – he's not far at all – will this be our first conflict? Our first death? Or will they team up?”

  The crowd's getting noisier. Rowdier. The Adam Cusack's almost in Emma's line of sight. He's got a weapon, too. Bow and arrow. Lucky bastard. He has it drawn, arrow pointing ahead. He hears Emma hacking.

  Blood pounds in my throat, and I can barely breathe as Adam finally sights on Emma, and she doesn't appear to notice. Tarren lets out a low groan. Emma’s surely dead.

  Adam shouts at her something. Why does he bother to inform her he’s there? She turns around, surprised and sweaty, before her face breaks into a smile. Adam appears to be scolding her – and they approach together, and clasp hands. I sigh in relief, same as Tarren.

  “Seems like the Profiler's secured an ally!” the commentator sounds rather smug, as if he knew how it was going to turn out all along. “I told you folks – don't underestimate someone with psychology training. Don't underestimate! Look how chummy they all are now. Seems like he's telling her off for being incautious!”

  It did look like that – but Adam and Emma now pace together. Adam's a small man, barely taller than Emma herself. They certainly must have arranged this before the Hunt, though they did do a tense stand-off moment to make it look spontaneous. It wouldn’t have been.

  The crowd groans when Karhold gets his hands on a sword. He's not allowed ranged weapons, but that sword looks, wicked, sharp, and long. Karhold also finds a pistol, and he proceeds to stamp on it, to make it useless to fire. At the moment, only Adam's managed to procure a ranged weapon. Another person – Kalina, I think her name is, finds knuckledusters. She’s the one who avoided the snake earlier. The others are still weaponless.

  One of the men is getting closer to Karhold, now. I'm tense. If he takes Karhold early, the competition can be won without anyone else needing to kill themselves. He'd just need to evade capture five minutes after killing Karhold, which is the margin of time they give for the others to “take” the reward from the killer.

  Meanwhile, that “Kalina” is heading in what appears to be a western direction, nearing Adam and Emma. Seeing how Adam did the same, I now have a sneaking suspicion that Kalina might be on with Emma's little group as well.

  For a moment, I feel proud – insanely proud of Emma.

  “She's recruited that Kalina too, I think,” Tarren says, voicing what I've already suspected. “They must have arranged to head in a certain direction after some time and hope to meet up then.”

  Kalina's in trouble, though. There's another woman called Leeta, who has scooped up a knife, lurking in the brush. Waiting for people to pass her. And a man – the announcer calls him Johan – heading down.

  So many conflicts arising at once.

  “Karhold's spotted the Hunter!” the commentator screeches, and all the screens show Karhold flattened against a tree, his longsword upwards, while the Hunter approaches. The Hunter is sweaty and moody, now holding a quarterstaff. Is he aware of the danger? The man hesitates, seeing some bent grasses in the jungle. He stares at them, but then continues walking.

  There's a loud groan as Karhold swings his sword the moment the man passes his tree.

  Decapitated.

  One Hunter down. The commentator gabbles while the crowd scream their anger, and on the betting board, the man's name vanishes.

  Karhold's got a good weapon. It was placed perhaps too close to him, which leaves the commentator to speculate whether they had tried to leverage the game in favor of a child killer. I see Carla hiss at that observation. I think it was luck. Karhold sprinted fast to try and get to a good weapon, after all.

  The screens flick back to the individual Hunters, and now we see how the potential conflict between Kalina and the hidden Hunter played out.

  Leeta is dead, and Kalina continues moving – there's a hasty replay on the screens, and we see what happens. Leeta lunges – but Kalina has cat-like reflexes, surprising for her size. Trained in something. Looks like Judo. She seizes the stabbing arm in the replay and hurls the woman over – and the woman impales herself on her own knife, due to the atrocious way she holds the blade. Not pleasant – drove into the eye socket. Kalina herself seemed shaken by what had happened, before continuing. The crowd roars their appreciation of Kalina – and noticeably, her odds are bumped up on the scoreboard in light of her action. She's now the favorite to win. She bumps into Johan a moment later, and the two of them join up.

  Five minutes after that – Emma's group is joined by those two, and we see a coalition of four people.

  “Four people allied!” the commentator happily bellows. “Let's hope they give Karhold what for!”

  The other two hunters seem to take the hint when they cross the decapitated male, and are partnered. Perhaps they knew about Emma's plans, and knew they couldn't beat a four strong group.r />
  Meanwhile, Karhold's found body armor. Johan's found a shield. Emma's found a pistol, which she gives to Adam, who passes her the bow and arrow in return.

  “They should be fine. I'm not happy about Karhold, though,” Tarren says, as he bites his nails. Clearly he's nervous, because usually, the Hunted isn't able to obtain such useful weapons so early on. Seems like hours have passed, but only fifteen has. Karhold has taken to stalking, cautiously flitting from tree to tree, watching for signs of activity.

  He could actually win this. He’s really skilled.

  Eventually, the two guys seem nearer to bumping into Karhold. Emma's group is slower due to wanting to stick together and to not being caught by surprise.

  Two immunes dead. Such expensive, rare people. So much money down the drain. And Carla appears utterly unperturbed by the fact.

  Shameful as it is, I hope Karhold gets them, but is injured in the process. That would be the best-case scenario for Emma making it out alive. Even assuming her allies can be trusted and won’t just turn on her afterwards. Anything might happen. Tarren must be running similar thoughts, because he’s now watching Karhold with his teeth gritted. Not all competitions kill the Hunters who didn’t win, but some do. And we don’t know what rules Carla is playing by. Or if there are even any rules.

  Karhold’s spotted the two men – Harold and Edmund. The men are cautious, though. Edmund’s got a knife, and Harold a pistol bow. They obviously want better weapons, they’re looking – but it seems as though Karhold’s planning to get the drop on them again. The men don’t pass close enough, so Karhold attempts to edge towards them – but he’s heard.

  A poor shot from Harold results in one of the cameras being blown out, so we don’t have clear visuals on them anymore. And from the top, there’s too much jungle canopy. The audience mutters as it switches to another angle, not ideal, but catching the back end of Edmund as he clutches his knife tight. Karhold comes crashing through a moment later, sword glistening with blood. Must have taken down Harold. No injuries on him. Shit. And Edmund doesn’t have the range. If Edmund keeps trying to back he’ll die for sure. And he won’t be able to outrun Karhold.

  The monster swings his sword. Edmund dives into a forward roll, much to the delight of the crowd, and gets in close with his blade. He only has time to stick it in Karhold’s lower leg, however, before the blade sweeps once more, burrowing into his side. Not a strong swing, but enough to stop Edmund’s attempt to savage Karhold’s leg further.

  And it’s over for him, too.

  Yes. Karhold’s injured. He’s limping slightly, bleeding from the back of his calf muscle, but he wastes no time in using the fallen Edmund’s clothes to make a strip of cloth to cover it.

  Not injured enough, maybe. But the group of four are much better armed.

  I continued to watch, trying to be calm. Hard to be calm, because it can go either way. Success. Betrayal. Death. And if Karhold somehow wins – I highly doubt he’s getting much further than the exit, before Tarren falls upon him with fiery wrath. Wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of that particular business exchange.

  Emma’s group stops to talk to one another, with one of them acting as sentry – the tall one, Johan. They’re likely discussing tactics, I can almost imagine it. We don’t have audio, just visuals. Maybe splitting up? Maybe not?

  They finish their terse discussion, and continue walking, sometimes dipping out of sight of the cameras.

  “I trust Emma not to make a bad assessment, but I don’t know if those people won’t just turn on her. Easy enough to pretend to be reasonable, right up to the last moment.” Tarren leans forward in interest. I wonder how aware he is of Emma’s desire to work in a psychology-based job.

  To be honest, she seemed bright to me as well, but I wasn’t sure about any hidden skills she might have. Other than being able to keep secrets, and formerly spy on me, and seduce me – and get me into this whole bind in the first place. And she’s got her morals straight as well. I never really asked her what kind of things she likes, what her interests truly are, or taken her out anywhere nice. A restaurant’s not enough. Going to theme parks, going somewhere to have fun – I’ve never done that.

  And maybe now I never will.

  She holds the bow and arrow, but I don’t know if she can use it.

  Gradually, they close the gap on one another. Karhold’s not actively looking for them. He’s looking to get himself in a defensible position, a place hard for visuals, hard for ranged to get an attack off.

  The commentator babbles on in his excitable voice, until I just want to punch him in the jaw and make him shut up. Karhold’s taken the weapons he can use off the dead Hunters, including the knife and pistol bow, and he’s now scooped up a shield, prompting a groan from the crowd. He’s got range, a long sword, a knife, and protection. Emma’s group needs to be smart and not harboring thoughts of betrayal. They stumble across the bodies of the two men, and they’re able to track Karhold’s path, still discussing earnestly with one another what to do. Adam’s now gripping a shield in his hands tightly. Johan’s wielding a sword, Kalina’s got the pistol. Sure hope she knows how to use it. Emma quickly practises with a few arrows, managing to hit the trunk of a tree four times. At least she can use a bow to fire in a general direction. She retrieves the arrows, aside from one that snaps off, and they continue tracking Karhold’s path. Nearer and nearer to demise.

  “I don’t want to watch this,” Tarren hisses, though of course, he’s not taking his eyes away from it. Nearer and nearer they approach. Karhold is positioned well. Hard to reach him, but Emma’s got the machete, which she gives to the stronger Johan, in case they need to start hacking. Kalina stops the group, now pointing a little ahead, where the Hunted waits. Yes. Be cautious.

  Silent as ghosts, they split up. This makes me anxious, because if they don’t coordinate this well, Karhold will get the drop on them. They’ve got a ranged on each group. Emma with Adam, Kalina with Johan.

  Does Karhold see them?

  “And it doesn’t look like the Hunted has seen or heard his foes, yet, he’s still sitting in a relaxed position. If they’re lucky, they can get a shot in before he reacts, and his injury might be the deciding factor… and of course, our snipers are ready in case he attempts to use his transformative abilities to cheat a win…”

  The crowd jeer at this, but for now, everything’s kept relatively calm.

  My heart almost leaps into my throat when Karhold moves, finally detecting the threat. In Emma’s direction. He’s not going to stay and be a sitting target. I want to scream at her to watch out, but she won’t hear it. Carla’s watching from her stand, a grin on her lips, and again, a surge of hate roils through me.

  How dare she smile.

  “Adam’s got the shield,” Tarren whispers, trying to convince himself that Emma will be okay. She better be. Please, if there’s a god, she better be okay…

  Karhold lunges at a disturbance, slashing bush. Adam was shaking the branch nearby, and I clench the railing, knuckles bloodless. Emma yells something, Kalina and Johan speed up. Emma fires off an arrow, just missing Karhold. The Hunted does an overhang swing at Adam, who blocks it with his shield – the blow staggers him, however. Just before Karhold’s able to finish off Adam, Emma fires again, forcing the Hunted to avoid her arrow with his strapped-on shield, giving Adam time to recover.

  Emma yells something again – Karhold looks and sees Johan closing in, and chooses instead to dash to Emma. Oh no. Taking out the ranged threat…

  In slow motion, Karhold seems to stumble before reaching Emma, then collapse. Kalina. Approaching from the only direction he didn’t check, firing non-stop at Karhold. Even as the Hunted lies on the ground, she shoots until her pistol is empty of bullets.

  “He’s down! He’s down forever! Kalina blindsided that bastard, hitting him with all her bullets! Now she’s at a disadvantage, however, if the others choose to take her victory away from her…”

  Emma, however, dr
ops her bow and arrows, shrieks, and dashes to hug Kalina. So incautious. She could be killed like this. What if Kalina has a hidden weapon? But Kalina hugs her back, and Johan and Adam approach, grinning. We watch the exchange, waiting for the betrayal. Karhold’s bleeding out, dead and gone at last – but it doesn’t look like the four Hunters are going to turn on one another. Now they’re talking eagerly. Johan still has his weapon, Adam’s still cautious, because of course, they don’t know about the last Hunter, who Karhold killed earlier.

  Five minutes pass. The alliance holds. They’re sharing the prize.

  Victory. Emma’s alive. And I’ve never felt so much relief as I do right now. My legs turn weak, and Tarren slumps against the railing with a sigh as the crowd applaud the four Hunters and their sportsmanship. Too easy to see betrayals. Much rarer to see cooperation.

  “Thank fuck,” I say, patting Tarren on the shoulder. He merely nods against his arms.

  Emma

  Well, that worked out better than expected. Adam only sustained an injury to his arm – a literal flesh wound solved with some antiseptic and a bandage. The four of us grin as the guards usher us off.

  “I'm glad we didn't kill each other,” Adam says. “Part of me wasn't sure, right, if we'd do it.”

  “Emma seemed trustworthy,” Kalina replies, smiling. I watch her and Johan linger close together, and wonder if there isn't something more between them. “As for you, Adam, you're desperate, but you're not stupid. And what you did there. Blocking that blow. Holy crap, that was so brave.”

  “Heh.” Adam smiles. “You covered my arse back there.” I smile, too. He could have had the chance to kill me, when I was alone, hacking away at the dense foliage to test out the machete in my hands. But he chose to stick to the plan. We all did.

  Faith in humanity, restored, perhaps?

  “No one going to comment on how I am such an excellent shot?”