The Hunter

by Melissa Faye

  “Yes, June!” Ridge huffed. “Though I don’t know about future time IVs.”

  “Me neither.”

  I wished again that I had a device for looking through doors. It would be so simple to create. The plans were already falling into place in my head. I had some equipment that would make a good cover, and...

  I closed and opened my eyes in an attempt to regain my focus.

  Get inside. Attack the traveler. Send her home.

  Get inside. Attack a traveler who’s evaded me before in almost exactly the same circumstances and who has some strange whiteout device on her. And probably lots of other technology I’ve never seen before. And who is minutes away from stealing Harrison’s youth and leaving him wrinkled and...

  Ridge stared at me in anticipation. I squeezed my eyes tight then opened them wide.

  “Let’s go.”

  Ridge flicked on the Shusher and slowly opened the door for us. With the Shusher on, there was no sound.

  I peeked inside.

  The woman was nowhere in sight. Harrison was laid out on a stretcher, like Teddy had been, and strapped down. He was unconscious or close to it. I turned slowly, taking in the rest of the room. It was the living room of an abandoned apartment.

  Ridge snuck in behind me and took in our surroundings. I held my hand in front of him so he would wait. I didn’t want him going after Harrison until I knew where the woman was. I pushed him behind me so he was hidden behind the door. The woman couldn’t see her.

  A faucet turned on in another room. I heard someone swishing around in the water, then turning it off.

  “Harrison, I’m so sorry to do this to you, but you know your mother and I never got along. She’s the one who turned all our friends against me. You have to see the irony, don’t you?”

  Whose mother?

  The traveler’s heels clicked against the floor as she entered the room. She was still turned away from us, and I held my breath. She leaned over Harrison and placed a hand on his chest.

  “Your mother really is a terrible woman. She knew how terrible the fire was. It almost broke Jasper and me down completely. We lost everything. And then your mother had to run around, telling everyone...”

  Did she say Jasper?

  The woman paused and lifted her head.

  She could tell we were here.

  I moved my head one millimeter, hoping Ridge would see. I was going to fight her and send her home.

  She mentioned Jasper. And Harrison’s mom. And a fire.

  The woman turned and I saw her face clearly. The scar tissue on the left side of her face was back, though it was less noticeable than when I saw her with Teddy. His murder was only a temporary fix.

  “Please understand,” the woman said, “this is between me and Harrison. And Harrison’s mother. I have almost everything I need. And I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else.”

  I sputtered.

  “Are you telling me I should let you go?”

  “I’m telling you not to bother. We both know how this is going to turn out, don’t we?”

  She backed up against Harrison and placed a hand on his throat.

  “He’s going to die today. I’m going to take what I need from him. By my calculations, it will be enough to fix all of this.” She pointed towards the scarring on her face. “My point is, you don’t need to be another casualty. I’ll go home when I’m finished here. You have my word.” She was a psychopath turned negotiator.

  The Some Gun was in my hands, pointed at the floor. I was at a loss for words, and couldn’t move. What did Harrison’s mother have to do with this? What had she done to a traveler?

  “You’re going home now. You’re not killing Harrison.”

  The traveler laughed. I seethed.

  There was a pause where neither of us moved. I clenched my hands around the Some Gun, ready to spring into action. The woman glanced at the Some Gun, then back at my face. She smiled.

  I am so sick of traveler’s smiling like that.

  I raised my arms, aimed the gun, and pulled the trigger. She squealed happily and jumped aside. I ran towards her, ready to fight her with my fists. Hoping to get a chance for a few punches.

  She ran aside, stumbling behind Harrison’s stretcher.

  “You are feisty! I can see why Harrison liked you.”

  I shot again, and she hopped away. I lunged towards her with my left arm, and she easily avoided my fist. I didn’t dare look at Harrison’s face for fear of losing it entirely.

  The woman circled the stretcher and I couldn’t catch up. She avoided the Stuns and my punches effortlessly. I finally managed to grab the sleeve of her trenchcoat and pulled it downwards with all my might. She fell to her knees, and I ran around Harrison to jump on top of her.

  My Some Gun fell to the side. I landed a few blows on the woman’s cheeks and chin before she used her nails to scratch my face and claw at my eyes. I screamed and she threw me off of her. I chased her, grabbed her legs, and tackled her to the ground.

  She kicked at me with her heels, and I fell over. She pulled something out of a pocket, and something hit me hard. Another invisible brick wall. I was ready for it this time. I rolled onto my side, gasping for air, and the woman sprinted into the next room.

  I was breathing heavily, but I grabbed my Some Gun and followed her. I found her waiting for me as I turned the corner into an empty bedroom. She still had the brick wall device in her hand, and I went straight for it. I shoved into her side and pushed against her arm until she dropped it on the ground. Then I stepped on the device, smashed it, and lunged for her again.

  We rolled over each other on the floor, frantically shoving and pummeling each other. I knew Ridge must be in the other room now. I only needed another moment. I would get on top of this woman, and send her home with the Some Gun. I needed one more second with the upperhand.

  The woman grabbed me by my hair and dragged me further into the room. I felt her lift me up, her hands raking against my scalp, and I screamed in pain. She pushed me back into the wall next to the open balcony door. I struggled to get her off me, but she had me pinned with one arm against my windpipe. I slowly raised the Some Gun with my right arm, but gave up when she pushed harder against my throat.

  With a scream, I shoved her back with all my might. The Some Gun went flying again.

  “What is it about Harrison?” the woman teased. “I heard you don’t like travelers. But you let him get away with it. Why is that?” I swatted at her and she shoved me away. “Why is it that Harrison can vacation here in your precious Present, but you send lottery winners and honeymooners back to their time?”

  I struck her hard across the face. Harrison? Traveling?

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  I struck again. This time, she blocked my blow, then threw her head back and cackled. I felt an inkling of understanding, but I couldn’t see it through my blind rage. The woman kicked me in the side and I struggled to catch my breath. I looked around for my Some Gun but couldn’t see it.

  “Tell me! What are you saying?”

  “You didn’t know! That’s even better!”

  The woman laughed again. She grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me out onto the balcony.

  I grabbed her arms and tried to push her off me, but I couldn’t get a grip. She backed me over the edge of the railing, and I stared meekly down at the five floor drop. I felt a wave of vertigo flood my system.

  “Your boyfriend in there? We go way back. I’ve known him since he was a baby!”

  The woman laughed again. Her eyes were crazy, and wind blew her blond hair off her face. I stared at her scars. She caught me looking and sneered.

  “How dare you -”

  Something appeared through the door to the bedroom. A streak of light. It rammed right into the traveler. She lost her grip on me as well as her footing. I watched in horror as she stumbled towards the railing, tipped over it, and fell to the ground below.

  I turned back t
owards the door. Harrison stood in the doorway, clutching his stomach. His face was pale. He collapsed onto the floor.

  Ridge raced towards us. I shook my head and gestured towards the ground.

  “She’s gone.”

  Chapter 12

  RIDGE AND I PUT AN arm under each of Harrison’s shoulders and helped him down the five flights. I called the police to let them know where the murderer was. I hoped there would be enough evidence in the room for the police to know what happened and let the city know the murderer was dead.

  We set Harrison down on the curb a few blocks away. Ridge hailed a taxi, but I sent it away. I wasn’t finished.

  “Hey.” I nudged Harrison with my foot. I felt nauseous, and it wasn’t from what happened to the traveler or even from my injuries. “What was she talking about in there? How did she know you?”

  Harrison’s pulled his knees towards his chest, and I crouched over him.

  “Her name was Felicity. She was a friend of my mother’s.”

  “Woah, son,” Ridge said, holding out his hands to separate Harrison and myself. “You’re out of it still, aren’t you? June, back up.”

  “No, Ridge.” I pushed Ridge’s hand away and leaned over Harrison. “How was a traveler friends with your mother, Harrison?”

  Harrison’s eyes were red when he finally looked up at me to speak.

  “My mother’s from another time.”

  Ridge choked down a cough.

  “What does that make you, Harrison?”

  “I guess I’m a traveler too.”

  My heart raced and my hands shook. I backed several feet away to compose myself. Ridge looked confounded. Harrison followed me with his eyes, but didn’t speak.

  “You guess. You’re from another time, but you don’t think you’re one of them.” I was muttering to myself, but neither Ridge nor Harrison were about to jump in. I rounded on Harrison. “Your mother is from the future, and you’re from the future. You’ve been here since you last saw your mother, right? Since you started high school?”

  Harrison nodded.

  “Why don’t you have a chronogram trace?”

  “You can have those scrubbed off.” Harrison’s voice was scratchy and weak.

  “How do you - no, I don’t care about that. Why did that woman say Jasper’s name? It’s not -”

  “Yeah. It’s the same Jasper. She’s his wife.”

  I tried to add all the pieces up in my head, but it was like my thoughts were shards of glass laying on the sidewalk. The more I tried to stick them together, the further they broke apart.

  “You’ve known me for months. You helped me fight other travelers. You met my family. You were my...boyfriend. And this whole time, all of this, everything, has been a lie?”

  Harrison opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

  “You saw this woman kill Teddy. She called your name. You let me and Ridge think I imagined it. She could have killed someone else because you were hiding information.”

  Harrison stared up at us, darting his eyes between mine and Ridge’s.

  “I felt sorry for you, Harrison. I even thought you were brave. ‘Harrison’s in danger but he’s helping us protect Rami and Teddy.’ You were in it for yourself. You wanted Felicity to stay away from you.” My pulse raced.

  “I don’t know why you’re here. I don’t understand how you found me, or why you lied. Maybe you’re a friend of Jasper’s. Hell, maybe you were part of what he did to my parents!” I laughed wickedly. Harrison kept staring.

  “I don’t understand who you actually are, Harrison. But I swear, if you come near me or anyone I care about ever again, I will send you home. Or worse.”

  Harrison sat there pathetically, not moving an inch, staring at me with large, glassy eyes.

  “Come on, June.” Ridge led me away by my elbow. He hailed a cab, and this time I got in with him. We left Harrison sitting alone on the curb.

  Chapter 13

  IT WAS PAST MIDNIGHT, but neither of Ridge nor I were going to get any sleep that night. I sat quietly next to Ridge on the couch, trying to fit those shards together. No matter what I did, nothing fit.

  Harrison was a traveler. His parents knew Jasper. We killed Jasper’s wife. My parents...my parents fit in there too.

  “He knows who I am. He lives one floor above me. I have to send him home, right, Ridge?”

  Ridge had been quiet since we got back. I knew he cared about Harrison, but I couldn’t tell how this was affecting him.

  “You never sent Leslie Leslie home,” he reminded me.

  “Yeah.”

  I hugged my knees into my chest. Anger sat in my stomach like a tightly wound spring ready to uncoil violently, but I wouldn’t let it happen. Not yet.

  “He lied. I’ve known about Jasper for months, and Harrison knows him. How could he not tell me?”

  Ridge crossed and uncrossed his legs.

  “Who knows what else he’s been lying about! He acts amazed every time I show him a new invention or a new piece of traveler technology. The whole time, he was laughing at us. Another traveler who thinks because he’s from a more advanced time, the rest of us live in the Stone Age.”

  Ridge responded slowly.

  “People have...reasons...for doing what they do. And we don’t always understand at first, June. I don’t believe Harrison was trying to hurt us. I don’t think he was laughing at us. He saved your life tonight.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek.

  “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “Ridge, I only found out three months ago that my life is a lie. My parents are alive. I spent years mourning them, and I don’t think I ever got over it, or ever will. But they’re alive. They didn’t reach out to tell me the truth because they couldn’t. Harrison could have told me the truth at any time, but he didn’t.”

  “It’s not -”

  “Don’t tell me it’s not the same, Ridge. It is. I see enough travelers in our Present lying about who they are and what they’re doing. Harrison wasn’t supposed to be...just another person added to that list.”

  Ridge breathed out slowly.

  “Are you going to send him back to his Present?”

  “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

  I went back to school the next morning. Though everyone’s attitude on campus was immediately improved by the news of Felicity’s death, everything felt dark and gloomy to me.

  I found Honey in the dining hall and slid into the seat next to her. I texted her the night before that everyone was ok, but hadn’t responded to anything else she asked.

  “June!” Honey whispered. “What happened?”

  I shook my head pathetically.

  “I don’t want to get into it, okay?”

  Honey bit her lip.

  “No. That’s not okay. I’ve been helping you all this time, and you said everything went ok, and now you look like you just found out your childhood dog died...”

  “I broke things off with Harrison.”

  Honey cocked her head to the side.

  “Oh.”

  Honey went off to class after breakfast, and I headed back to the dorms to shower and change. I hadn’t slept much and would have liked a few more hours to myself, but I had class in the early afternoon.

  I got back to the suite and found Harrison waiting at the door. He wore the same clothes he had the night before and hadn’t shaved.

  I sneered and shoved past him into the suite. He followed me in.

  “June, please!”

  I threw my bag into my room and stomped back towards him.

  “I told you to never come near me again, and I meant it.” I shoved my finger into his chest. “You didn’t even last one day. I should send you back to your Present right now.”

  That felt like the perfect idea. No more messing around. I didn’t like making idle threats. I turned to get the Some Gun from my bag, but Harrison pulled my arm and wouldn’t let go.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t ta
lk to you again. But I have something for you.”

  Harrison held up a small flash drive. I stared at it until he took my hand and placed the drive on my palm.

  “I’ll leave you alone now.”

  He walked out and closed the door behind him.

  I’d made my own upgraded flash drives in the past. They were the same size as the ones my friends used, but held ten or a hundred times more data. Still, mine never looked as sleek as the one Harrison handed to me.

  It was slim, gray, and surprisingly light. The metal around it reminded me of the metal cube I got off a traveler back before school started. That cube held three miniaturization beetles. I knew the flash drive held something much more important: information.

  I sat on my bed with my laptop on my lap and plugged in the drive.

  The drive contained what appeared to be a long record of photos taken by someone named named Rebecca. There were dozens of pictures of her with a variety of friends, but the backgrounds were unrecognizable. I realized with a gasp that they were pictures from the future. Rebecca was pretty, with a friendly, but maybe empty, smile and a square jaw that was exactly like Harrison’s. Her eyes were like his, too. His mom.

  There were pictures of Rebecca with a baby. Pictures of her with the baby and friends. She usually looked towards her friends, and ignored the child that grew older through every picture. It was unnerving, like a woman at the grocery store asked her to hold her child while she ran to the restroom. Only I knew it was Harrison.

  As the child grew, I saw fewer pictures of child Harrison and more pictures of Rebecca on her travels with her friends. I had to click back and forth a bit because I kept missing other people I knew in the pictures. Rebecca with the traveler we killed, Felicity. Felicity and Jasper together.

  Harrison set aside three pictures in a folder labeled “For June.” I opened that last.

  The first picture showed Jasper with a man who was shorter by a few inches. Where Jasper’s hair was stick straight and white-blonde, the man’s hair was dark and thick like mine.