The Hunter's Blade

by E. C. Fisher

  Chapter Two

  I’ve made my first friend, but something about him is different. And what was it about that pendant? I feel like I’ve seen or heard about it from somewhere before.

  Father would know. Bring him to see him and find out?

  How could I just bring him to meet Father already? I’m not even sure about my feelings toward him. I don’t want to lose the first person who wants to be my friend.

  What about his blood? Something about it is off.

  Yes, its smell was abnormal, almost repulsive. But I’m slowly controlling myself around him over these last few weeks. He would despise me if he ever learned about what I truly am.

  Be prepared!

  Three weeks had passed since Vali joined the academy. The injuries Alex had sustained had already healed. Alex and Vali were always together, and it seemed to act as a sort of deterrent to the bullying and abuse he received daily. The classes were set up so that those in a class are together through every subject that year. This meant they got to spend the last three weeks in close proximity, but Alex found he was no closer to getting to know her any better.

  The guys in class were constantly hitting on her and wanting her attention. All the girls have a disdain toward her because of the attention she received. They don’t seem to do anything major, just small acts of aggression to get their points across. One such example, they drew curse words on her papers that the teacher handed back. They would act like they were talking about her whenever she is around.

  It pained Alex to see her go through this, but he didn’t know how to stop it since he couldn't do it himself. One day at lunch she left the classroom to eat by herself. Alex attempted to follow her, but she declined his offer. He figured she just wanted to be alone.

  Alex left the classroom to use the restroom after finishing his lunch. Upon his return, he found Vali’s desk had ransacked. Her books scattered about her desk scribbled inside were more obscene words in black Sharpe. Alex went over to her chair to pick up the books before she returned. He glanced up when he heard a bunch of girls nearby snickering to themselves. He decided to give them a piece of his mind. Consequences be damned.

  “Did you do this?” He showed them the book.

  “Of course not! Those books were already like that,” a blonde girl spoke out.

  “Yeah, we found them like that. Anyways what does it matter to you?” the brunette next to her asked.

  “It matters to me because she’s my friend. What you’ve all been doing to her for the last few weeks is pissing me off.” Alex slammed the book down on the desk between them.

  “Oh, look who’s trying to sound all manly now. Aren’t you the kid Malcolm punched out a few weeks ago? You should be careful we don’t say something to him about this,” the blonde said, acting all high and mighty.

  “What Malcolm did and what you're doing are two different things. You bunch of bitches are jealous that she’s getting all the attention from the other male students. You rich people are all the same. Your heads are so far up your asses you can’t tell where one of you ends and the other begins. She’s a unique individual who actually cares about people instead of money or looks. Karma’s a bitch and I hope she turns around to bite you all in the ass.” Alex’s face turned red with frustration and anger. He let out all the pent-up emotions he had been holding in since he arrived in Livingston Private Academy.

  He turned away to find Vali standing in the doorway. He wasn’t sure how much of what he said she heard but she quietly went to her seat and picked up her belongings. He turned back and grabbed the book he left on the desk between those pompous girls and went to hand it to her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, through tears as he handed back the book. She grabbed it before he had a chance to respond, leaving the classroom.

  Everyone was in shock and silent after the event that had just transpired. Alex gathered his stuff and went after her. By the time he exited the classroom, she was out of sight.

  I need to find her and explain, he thought. He decided to start by searching in the library since it was somewhere quiet. He glanced between the many shelves of books that the library contained. Two floors' worth of literature or research documents were collected and stored there. Many students used it for self-study, but a lot of indecent acts happened between them. He happened to catch two couples on the second floor making out while searching for Vali.

  “Excuse me but have you two seen another girl around here. She’s 5’6 with long black hair and porcelain white skin?” Alex blurted at the couple who were making out between some shelves on the second floor.

  “No man I haven’t. Can’t you see I’m a little busy here,” the guy said with abhorrence before turning back to continue his tongue lashing. Alex decided to leave the library and check the grounds outside.

  The Academy was located on private gated land with a dense forest surrounding it. The gate’s iron bars made it feel more like a prison than someplace that was for higher education. The front gate led to a paved walkway a hundred meters from the entrance of the school.

  The entrance had a half-circle staircase that led up to giant wooden oak doors. The main building was decades old. Green vines hung from top to bottom, the only place the vines didn’t cover was the huge panel windows, like they automatically went around them. Though the outside looked dilapidated, the interior was kept up to date, polished, and cleaned daily. The building had four floors, each floor was meant for students of that grade, lowest to highest. The building was designed in the shape of a U with a courtyard in the middle.

  Alex decided to search the courtyard, he guessed it would be the next likely place for her to be as it wasn’t used by many of the students or faculty. Trees dotted here and there along each side of the paved walkway. Around the trees were circular benches for people to sit under the shade. Flowers with vibrant colors ran across the length of the building. Alex thought the smell of the flowers’ fragrance was used to hide the aroma of shit in the air around this place.

  There weren’t many places for someone to hide in the courtyard since it was wide open, however, in the back section stood a blue and white storehouse. It had been repurposed into an outside study room. Currently, all the window blinds were down so he wasn’t able to peer inside. Alex tried the door, but it was locked. He pressed an ear to the door to hear if anyone was inside. There was a light rustling sound, so he banged on the door.

  “Vali, are you in there? It’s me, Alex. Say something if that’s you?” He slammed his fist against the wooden door.

  “There’s no Vali in here. Would you mind leaving, you’re disturbing the flow, man,” a young male voice shouted from within the storeroom.

  “Oh, shit, pardon the interruption.” Alex turned and hurried back inside the main building.

  As he reached the stairs the end of the day bell sounded. The students began to fill the halls as they hurried to leave the grounds. Alex waited outside for them to clear before continuing to search for Vali.

  Chances are the girls had told Malcolm of my bravado and he would be looking to knock me down a peg or two—or three. Where would she have gone? I don’t know her well enough to be making assumptions on where she would go. And like Malcolm’s fist, it hit him smack in the face. The nurse’s office! Alex thought it would be the perfect place to be without disrupting the academy for her to go.

  He decided to wait until 3:00 pm, he figured everyone would be clear of the academy and he didn’t want to run into Malcolm. He ascended the stairs to the third room and down the hall on the left to reach the nurse’s office. He stood in front of the door and took a deep breath and let it out before he grabbed the door handle. God, I hope she’s in here. He pushed the door open to find her standing in the clinic. Her silhouette through the curtains seemed lonely as she stared out the window gazing into the night sky. The lights were off and the low sunlight through the window was the only source of light in the room. The soft glow covered Vali in a warm embrace.

&n
bsp; “So, this is where you’ve been hiding.” He entered the clinic and shut the door behind him.

  “How did you know I’d be here?” She kept her gaze looking out the window.

  “Well, I admit this was the last place I checked.” He chuckled. “Honestly, it was the last place I was going to check before giving up and heading to the dorm.” He approached her slowly afraid his presence would scare her off.

  “I don’t understand. I should be used to feeling this way. Everywhere I’ve been the same thing happens. The boys fawn over me and the girls get jealous and act out.” She shook her head, “No, that’s not it. I think it’s because this is the first time someone stood up for me.”

  “I’m sorry. I knew it, I shouldn’t have done that. I figured you wouldn’t have wanted me to do that. I hurt you because of it. Some friend I turned out to be.” Alex stopped a few feet behind her.

  “No, not at all.” She turned to face him. Her tears were still running down her cheeks. “I was happy you did it. It just surprised me that you did. That’s why I ran off.” She wiped away her tears.

  “You ran off because you’re happy? I don’t really understand girls.” Alex rubbed the back of his head. He had a small smile on his lips. He felt glad to hear her remark.

  “Well, you should know that we are complicated creatures. The moment you think you understand us we will take you for another loop. How else are we to keep boys interested and on their toes?” She finally smiled.

  “There’s that smile. It suits you a lot better.”

  “And there you go, staring again.” She moved away from the window and into the shadows.

  Alex noticed the window faced out into the courtyard below where he happened to be moments ago.

  “Were you watching me up here the whole time I was in the courtyard?” He glanced over to her after looking out the window.

  “Not at first. I was just staring off into the distance, but then I saw you looking around down there and just happened to watch you.” She stood in front of Alex as their positions had changed.

  “So, I guess I caught you staring this time, Vali,” he teased her with a grin.

  “Really? Don’t let it get to your head, Alex. I’m not a pervert like you are.” She crossed her arms, stomping her foot and turning her head away from him. She peeked in his direction when he didn’t immediately respond.

  “A pervert! Hey, that’s going too far. I happen to be a male with budding urges I can’t help if my desires seep out once in a while.” Alex tried to defend himself to no avail.

  “Oh, so those desires are seeping out in my direction, now are they?” Her lips curled into a devilish grin, which Alex found to be rather seductive.

  He was taken aback by what she said and too embarrassed to answer her.

  She burst out with a laugh, taunting him. “Just kidding! Oh, I wish you could have seen your face.”

  “I’m so glad that I’m around to amuse you.” He made his way past her toward the door, trying to hide his reddish face. “Come on, we should get going now.” He opened the door and waited for her to exit.

  “What a gentleman,” she teased as she passed him.

  This girl!

  They made their way out of the main entrance of the school and walked down the pathway to the main gate.

  “I know that even though we’ve been in the same class for the last three weeks and have become friends I don’t really know that much about you Vali.” Alex gazed at the amber sky.

  The sun was beginning to set, and the red and orange colors were mixing in with the dark sky forming above their heads. The twinkle of the stars was beginning to appear and the crescent moon was taking shape.

  “Well, a girl has to keep some secrets, but I don’t mind sharing a little of them with you. What would you like to know?”

  “You came from overseas. Where were you born?”

  “I was born in Romania, but my mother was from England. It was a small town where my father was from.”

  “She died when you were young. I don’t remember the faces of my parents. Do you have any memories of her?”

  “No. She died in childbirth. But my father says she was the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. They were charmed by each other at first sight.”

  “Yeah, I know the feeling.” Alex kept his face toward the sky to hide his blushing cheeks.

  “Anything else you want to know?”

  “You moved around a lot. I’ve only lived in New York. Where are some of the places you’ve been?”

  “Let’s see now, there was Tokyo, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Rome, Paris, Ukraine, and some different states in America,” She counted them on her fingers after taking a moment to think.

  “Wow. That kind of makes you a world traveler, huh.” Alex finally looked over at her. His face beaming with excitement. He could only visit those places in his dreams or tourist magazines.

  “I really wouldn’t say that. Most of them are when I was too young to remember.”

  “What I’d give for a chance to travel like that.” Alex stared ahead. His eyes were lost to the possibilities of traveling to a foreign country.

  The main gate was starting to come into view.

  “Did you say something?” Alex glanced over to her. But, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A darkened figure from the fading sunlight approached them.

  Malcolm Wolfrik stood fifty yards behind them. “Hunter, where do you think you’re going?” Malcolm growled at him. Alex could see the glistening drool from Malcolm’s mouth.

  “Hunter!? Malcolm, you know who I am. It’s me, Alexander. I can explain about-,” Vali grabbed him by the blazer and pulled him away from Malcolm. He glanced toward her and saw the fear in her eyes. If her complexion could turn anymore white it would have.

  “What’s wrong? Why do you look so scared, it’s only Malcolm?” He saw her lips start to tremble. They weren’t trembling, they were mouthing a word. Were. Werewolf.

  Alex turned back toward Malcolm after reading her lips. He held something in his hand; it resembled a syringe. Malcolm tore his blazer sleeve off and injected himself with whatever was in the syringe.

  What happened next was like a scene from a horror movie. Malcolm’s body began to convulse and shake. He dropped to his knees. He let out a shrieking painful scream. His body began to grow and his uniform tore apart, unable to contain his massive arms and legs. His muscles bulged out more than they already did. Dark messy bristly brown hair covered his flesh.

  His hands and feet grew black razor-sharp claws. His face contorted and started to morph into a wolf’s snout and ears. Fangs formed from his mouth and two of them extended out of the top to overlap his bottom jaw. His eyes changed from the normal brown to a dark yellow with a piercing black pupil. When his transformation was done, he howled, piercing the sundown sky, a flock of crows flew out from around the academy grounds.

  Alex noticed two things at that point besides the obvious, his underbelly had no hair but looked like solid muscle and he had no tail like he would think werewolves would usually have. His brain couldn’t handle the input of information and his only thought was, I guess movies can’t always be right.

  Vali shoved Alex to return him to reality. “We need to run, Alex. We can’t just stand around here.”

  “Did that just happen? Did he just turn into a werewolf?” Alex couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him as he ran toward the gate with Vali.

  Alex glanced back to see the werewolf Malcolm charging after them. “It’s coming.” Alex overexerted himself past his limits trying to run faster. He wasn’t in horrible shape by any means. The most exercise he had done was climbing the stairs, and here he was trying to outrun the school’s top running back, who turned into a werewolf. The odds were not in his favor.

  The sound of the claws hitting the pathway was like a hammer hitting steel. The heavy ragged breath was a constant reminder of its deadly presence and how close they were to be its dinner tonight
. Alex took the chance to glance back. He noticed the ground where it had landed left its prints in the concrete.

  We are going to die!

  He unexpectedly stopped hearing the sound on the concrete and glanced to see the werewolf had leaped into the air at him. Alex watched the beast descend as time slowed down. The breath of the beast faded; he watched its claws draw closer. Out of the corner of his left eye, he saw a tiny fist heading toward the werewolf. He glanced over to see Vali was the owner of that fist. In a blink, time returned to normal as Vali punched the werewolf across the jaw and sent it flying into the woods nearby.

  “Did you seriously just punch that thing?” Alex was shocked but very impressed.

  “Don’t stop running. We need to get to my house and fast. That hit isn’t going to slow that thing down a bit.” She nursed her hand but continued to run for the main gate.

  It was twenty-five yards in front of them. Alex felt a sense of relief at the sight of the iron gate he abhorred feelings for. It must have been because it was the goal and he finally reached it, alive.

  A rustling sound as if someone were running through the nearby trees jolted him back to reality. He peered inside the darkness to make out a shadowy object running through the gaps of the trees, passing ahead of them. The werewolf jumped out ten yards before the main gate and landed facing them; it stood upright and formidable on its hind legs.

  It stood a foot taller than Malcolm’s normal height. The werewolf howled into the night air as it finally cornered its prey. Its snout pointed down as drool dripped off its fangs. Without warning, it leaped forward off its powerful hind legs with its arms outstretched.

  Vali dashed in front and ducked underneath it. She gave it a swift kick in the abdomen and sent it flying into the iron gate. The gate buckled under the werewolf's heavy weight as it smashed into it. The beast tumbled into the street with the heavy iron gate landing on top of it.

  “Now’s our chance, that should have dazed it, but not for long. We need to hurry, come on.” Vali grabbed Alex’s hand and pulled him along.