The woods smelt of her grandmother's cabin: Cherries, pecans, and walnuts. The soft pad of her feet hitting the ground barely registered in the back of her mind, only focused on her target. She pulled back her bowstring, aiming but not aiming, breathing but not breathing. A raindrop slid down a leaf next to her and a ladybug flew onto the nearest tree, barely visible, but visible too.
Releasing her breath, she let go, letting the arrow hit its target. The body of the once alive rabbit fell in a heap. The girl sprinted forward, light on her toes. Once she arrived at the once alive but now dead animal, she skinned it.
Birds whistled a tune that seemed all too familiar to Hunter. Grinning, she whistled it right back. The carcass laid in a bag over her shoulder, thumping her back now and then. Once she caught sight of her small hut, she picked up her pace.
Hunter threw open the door and placed the bag on the table. She went to her supply room to get the instruments needed to make her dinner and then proceeded to take the rabbit outside. When she was done with the bloody part, she got the animal ready for the stew.
"Hush, darling. Don't be scared. Mother's here to take care of her starling and she promises to always be prepared."
Singing the song that only her mother knew comforted Hunter. It was only their little secret.
After the Rabbit Stew was ready, Hunter added a few natural spices that grew around her hut. Finally, she could eat the mouthwatering dinner.
Right when she was about to taste the stew, a knock sounded on her door. Frowning, Hunter got up and went to the door, but not before grabbing her bow and an arrow. Readying the bow, she kicked the door open.
She did not expect to see another bow and arrow aimed at her.
Two girls and a guy stood at the door, all staring at the weapon in her hands.
"Why are you here?" Hunter questioned, slowly rotating the bow so they all stared at the dangerous contraption.
One teenager raised his hands slowly, the two others following his lead. "I'm Scott, and this is Allison and Lydia. Derek sent us."
Hunter could hear the redhead's rapid breaths and the brunette's calm ones. She could feel the tension radiating in the air as if it was a person breathing on her neck. Hunter couldn't help but respect the brunette's skill with the bow. As a fellow archer, she felt that she could trust her. The redhead, Lydia, seemed to be panicking, for what reason Hunter didn't know. The final teenager, Scott, was slowly stepping forward. With each step, Lydia's eyes grew wider.
Scott spoke again and Hunter's eyes snapped toward him in anger. How dare he come to her place and claim that Derek needed her? That was unacceptable!
She tightened the bowstring, making Lydia gasp. Allison tightened hers in retaliation.
"You need to leave," Hunter demanded.
"We need your help. One of my friends is going to die soon," Scott explained.
"I am not a healer, only a warrior," Hunter replied harshly, fingers burning from holding the bowstring for so long.
Lydia finally spoke up. "We need you to kill someone that's going to kill all of my friends."
Wincing, Hunter replied, "even you, young child?"
"He's a Nogistune and he took control of my friend, until they separated yesterday." Scott stepped forward, eyes locked firmly onto Hunter's. "We're all out of ideas and Derek says you may be able to help."
"I may," Hunter responded, eyes flickering around the woods to see if there were anymore hiding in the woods.
"Then please help us," Allison spoke up for the first time. "You're our only hope."
Without moving her eyes from Scott, she lowered her bow slowly. Hunter turned around and walked back inside her small hut, sitting in her chair and going back to eating her now mild Rabbit Stew.
"There is some Rabbit Stew over there if you would like some," Hunter told them.
"No, thank you," Scott replied timidly.
There was no sound other than the soft thump of Hunter's spoon hitting the wooden bowl. All three teenagers either looked around the small home or stared at Hunter in silence. For a couple of minutes, they talked quietly amongst themselves, but years of living in the forest had made Hunter's ears able to pick up a cockroach in the next room.
They spoke of how time was running out, how the twins should or shouldn't be allowed in the pack, and how Stiles (they once possessed friend) looked like death walking.
Hunter hadn't missed high school drama.
Once all her dinner had been eaten, she called them into her sitting area and placed a cup of fresh tea at Lydia and Allison's seats.
"Now, is your friend still alive?" Hunter asked.
All three nodded.
"So, you want me to slay the Nogistune, then?"
More nods.
Hunter thought for a minute, before asking, "what crimes has he committed?"
Scott looked to Lydia, while Lydia looked at Allison. The archer didn't even blink, instead choosing to drink her tea.
"He massacred everyone inside a hospital. Children included." Allison informed gravely, tightly gripping the wooden cup.
Hunter released a breath. Mothers and children were slaughtered for one demon's amusement. This entity could no longer run free anymore. No, he must be stopped.
"I will help you on your journey, with one simple price." At their nods, she continued. "You tell no one where I reside."
"We promise," Lydia says.
"Then we best be off."
Hunter had lived in the woods for five years, barely going out in the public. Nobody knew she existed other than Derek Hale, the man who taught her all about the supernatural and these three teenagers who claimed to know him.
They would face her wrath if they had lied to her.
She had been sitting in a van that smelled like rotten cheese and eggs for an hour now. When Hunter asked whose was it, they replied that it was a rental.
A rental all right.
But now the sight of a building drew her attention. Lydia parked and they all got out of the car. Hunter grimaced at the strong smell of smoke and drugs. She could see a figure stumbling towards them, dressed in ripped jeans and a low-cut tank top.
Scott saw her too and groaned. Curious, both girls looked over and saw the problem. Allison walked away and Lydia rubbed her face in frustration.
"Sco—Scott? Where's Stiles?" the drunk asks, lips parted in a pout.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, with her long wisps of black hair and dark chocolate eyes. She had dark eyeshadow on that made her eyes pop. But there were bags underneath her eyes, a sign of demons haunting her sleep. Her beautiful brown orbs screamed terror.
She was breathtakingly tragic.
"Ally, you need to go home," Scott told her. "It's late and I'm sure your parents are worried about you."
"My parents haven't been home all week, Scott," Ally stumbled but caught herself. "I'm sure they're not going to mi—miss me for one day."
"You never know," Lydia replied, eyes distant.
"Oh, trust me. I know."
Unable to stay quiet anymore, Hunter spoke up:
"You seem sick. Are you okay?"
Ally stared at Hunter before she burst out in laughter. Scott rubbed his eyes in irritation. Lydia went to go join Allison.
"You know, you're the only person other than Stiles that's asked me that," she informs, grimacing at the flash of pity from Scott.
But not Hunter.
Hunter understood pain: mental and physical.
Ally pulls a cigarette out of her pocket, lighting it up with a lighter. The shine immediately got Hunter's attention. Noticing her interest, Ally chuckled.
"This is the only good thing my deadbeat of a father left me. It's a silver lighter. Cool, right?" Ally flips the lighter into the air and catches it with one hand, not even glancing at it.
The girl had potential to do something great in this world.
"Yes," Hunter whispered. "It is cool."
Ally scrunched her eyebrows, "you talk funny."
Did she? Hunter had never noticed.
Lydia and Allison joined the three again, only to take Scott. They stood off to the side, whispering furiously among themselves.
"They don't like me," Ally whispered. "They think I'm a bad influence for Stiles. Something's wrong with him and they won't tell me what. It disgusts me. I'm his friend too, I have the right to be worried about him too. But they don't care. They never care."
"Never say that, young one," Hunter scolded. "You have a bright future ahead of you. If you follow your heart, your instincts, you will always make the right choice. Stiles is not okay, there you are right."
She could hear Scott's heavy footsteps coming in fast behind her. Instead of demanding where he was and what kind of danger he was in, Ally smiled.
"Thanks for telling me the truth—?"
"Hunter."
"You seem tough, Hunter. Will you bring Stiles back to me?"
"I make no promises, young o—"
"Hunter, we gotta go!" Scott harshly pulled her away from Ally, who was looking at him as if he were a monster.
"He's at Derek's loft. We gotta go, man."
She pushed her way through Scott's arms and quickly told Ally, "remember what I told you! You can do something great one day!"
Scott pushed her back into the car, where Lydia and Allison already were. Nobody spoke for a while, all too preoccupied in their minds to even form words. Who was Ally? Hunter wondered. She seemed young, around Scott's age. Hunter could barely make out a tattoo on her shoulder. From her angle, it looked like smoke coming out of a barrel.
The barrel of a gun.
Why would a girl that young have a tattoo, several piercings, gaunt eyebags, and the look of someone that had seen too much?
And that lighter, the one made from silver, was a true masterpiece. Funny, that something so tempting, was so beautiful. Just like its owner.
She learned the same thing from her bow. Her bow's tempting to use to take a life, like the one she took earlier this afternoon for dinner; but it's beautifully carved, with intricate designs only she understood. Hunter saw Allison staring at the markings, trying to decipher the story behind each stroke.
Hunter picked up said object, tracing each pattern with her thumb. Her eyes landed on the paw, right next to the chains. The paw was the only thing she didn't carve, no, someone else had the honor.
One Derek Hale.
When they were neighbors and friends, Hunter trusted Derek with her secret hobby and Derek told her what lurks in the dark. They were thick as thieves, always getting in trouble.
Until Kate Argent came along.
She burned his family to the ground, not caring about the amount of lives she took.
She was a monster.
Allison looked like that monster.
She had her eyes, that was what stood out the most. Did Kate have a daughter? Was this her? Why not ask?
Before she could, though, Scott informed them that they had arrived. Everyone stepped out of the car, faces grim. Hunter was the first to walk in, arrow notched. Something was wrong, she couldn't tell.
She had the feeling that she was supposed to do something.
Hunter thought back to the car ride here, how Allison went over details with Lydia and Scott. How Allison's father had knocked the mask off an Oni. But how? What was so special about that gun?
At the word gun, Hunter couldn't help but think about Ally. The girl with haunted eyes and the gun tattoo. The girl with the silver lighter.
A silver lighter…
That was it! Allison's father had fired a silver bullet, but it had gone through the Oni's face. What if they shot the Oni with a silver bullet?
Or a silver arrow.
Hunter reached back and grabbed an arrow from her quiver. This one had a silver tip and a special past. She notched that one instead, ignoring the trio's questioning glances.
She was going to end this.
One way or another.
Hunter walked into the loft, Derek's loft, bowstring pulled back and body tense.
She knew what she had to do.
"Who's this?" a voice called out.
Hunter caught her first glimpse of the Nogistune. He had distinguishing purple blotches under his eyes, more prominent than Ally's. His lips were a bluish color and chapped beyond relief. His skin was paler than a vampire. But, his eyes sparkled despite his grotesque appearance.
"I am Hunter," she responded firmly.
"Ah, so the hunters are here to hunt the Nogistune?" he laughed, pacing slowly, as if he had all the time in the world.
"Yes, and we will succeed," Hunter ignored Scott's look of confusion.
"I don't know. I know some people that don't like arrows all that much."
Black ninjas made of smoke appeared out of nowhere, all grabbing the hilt of their sword and pulling it out. Scott extended his claws and Allison held back her bowstring.
"These must be the Oni I've heard so much about," Hunter replied.
"All good things I hope."
"Not at all."
Not one for useless dialogue, Hunter released her arrow as fast as the speed of light. Nobody had time to recover before she fired another one into an Oni.
Two Oni vanished into smoke, never to be seen again.
Complete utter silence took ahold of the room, before a strangled gasp was let out. The Nogistune and the Oni disappeared, but not before killing one more person.
Hunter collapsed, crimson flooding the floor. Only Allison moved forward to help. Lydia felt her throat burn. God, she needed to scream. But screaming meant that it was final and Hunter could never be final.
But unable to resist her supernatural urges, Lydia released a glass breaking scream that bubbled out of her throat. Scott cried out, holding his ears tight.
Scott didn't have to check Hunter's pulse.
The once calm rhythmic heartbeat had stopped forever.