The Hunter gene is crucial to the Hunters' ability to defend themselves and fight the Vampires.
This gene can be inherited from the Hunters to their children, or it can result from a gene mutation when a human survives a near-death experience they had with a Vampire without being Bitten.
The abilities of this gene are vast and unique to every Hunter. The first ability is to summon a Soul Weapon and wield it.
No two Hunters have the same weapon and every weapon has a different resting form. The weapon's resting form can be anything, making it hard for a Vampire to disarm a Hunter before the Hunter summons their weapon.
Another ability is to sense allies and enemies. This is a difficult concept to control and is overwhelming to the young Hunters after their Renewal when this sense is heightened. It can be frightening when experiencing the sensitized sense, but to practice is to be accustomed to the feeling.
When a Hunter senses a Vampire, that Renewed Hunter has a gut feeling "pulling" them towards the Vampire's location while simultaneously alerting the Hunter to a Vampire's presence.
A young Hunter that has not gone through the process of the Renewal will experience a "bad feeling" when encountering or being near a Vampire.
The feeling a Hunter experiences when another Hunter is sensed is difficult to describe. The best description would be that a "good feeling" overcomes the Hunter when a comrade is near and that "good feeling" is intensified when the Hunter has gone through the process of Renewal.
John didn't know why that passage from The Hunter's Guide popped into his frantic mind, but when you're a thirteen-year-old stuck in a Bunker with nothing but rations, a bed, some medical supplies, and your thoughts while Rogue Vampires are attacking your home for no reason and Dad is fighting them...well, your mind tends to go places that it usually doesn't go to. John was sitting on top of the bed and curling in on himself as he trembled and kept his whimpers at minimal volume. The Bunker was supposed to be soundproof, but John's Dad told him that to be as quiet as possible just in case.
John's electric blue eyes was staring at one of the four plain, gray walls of the Bunker through crooked glasses as he tried to bring his erratic breathing to normal. In 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, John tried to coach himself but his lungs weren't having it. His panic attacks weren't anything new; in fact, they're the biggest problem John has with his Hunter training. His class was doing simulations of Vampire attacks so the next generation of Hunters knew what they were getting themselves into. John's best friend, Dave, and the rest of the class flawlessly went through the simulations.
All except John.
As soon as the first digital Vampire locked it's pixalated red eyes with his blue ones, John froze and forgot to breathe. He remembered when he looked into those red eyes last and that was when his Mom died. The fear burned through his veins and the panic took the form of an invisible fist grabbing his chest and squeezing.
The instructors had to cut the simulation short and dismiss the class so John wouldn't feel the twenty pairs of eyes burning his skin in humilation as he tried to form a logical thought. Dave was allowed to stay with John and he managed to have John go from a whimpering, sobbing, screaming mess to a semi-responding to the albino and the Instructors. John's Dad, who was a well-known Hunter before he retired after Mom's death, was stuck in the office and couldn't pick John up from the Facility. John's cousin, Jake English, was next on the Emergency Contacts list and the green-eyed young adult arrived to a severely embarrassed John hiding his face in Dave's shoulder while Dave was giving an awkward hug.
Jake brought Dave and John to John's home and the three marathoned shitty movies while pigging out on ice-cream until Dave's older brother (and Jake's boyfriend), Dirk, grabbed Dave and brought him home. After that incident, John had to stay late at the Facility to try and pass the simulations while the rest of the class moved on with the other lessons; John still can't get through the first simulated Vampire without an attack, and it got to the point where Dave had to be on standby to keep his best friend calm until Jake brought the two and prepared another movie marathon to calm the young ravenett.
John jumped when he heard an ungodly loud wail above the noise from outside the Bunker and his body went completely rigid.
Was that Dad or was that a dying Rogue Vampire?
John curled in tighter and started sobbing while feeling like he was being suffocated by the invisible fist of panic until everything went dark.
"John," A male's voice gently called in an English accent.
John woke up to someone lightly shaking his shoulder. Confusion hit him as he wondered when he fell asleep, but he must've passed out because of the panic attack. He opened one eye to be met with emerald green eyes. "...Jake?" John groaned as he turned to lay on his back.
"You had me worried there, punky," Jake softly chuckled and he smiled a bit before frowning. "Are you all right?"
John nodded as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes when he suddenly sat up and paled. "Dad!" He turned to Jake. "Is Dad okay?"
Jake wouldn't meet John's gaze as he adjusted his glasses absentmindedly. "I don't know John. Now get up so we can go to my flat."
John stood and watched as the sun-kissed man took a blue scarf out of his green jacket pocket. "What's that for?"
"I'm gonna tie it around your eyes so you don't see the mess outside," Jake answered and he tied the scarf around John's head, covering the boy's eyes and glasses in the process. "There you go, punky. Let's get home."
Jake grabbed John's hand and led the boy out of the Bunker.
The smell of death and blood hit John like a truck and the buck-toothed teenager gagged before he felt Jake moved the scarf to cover his nose to reduce the intensity of the smell. John was tugged out of the house as quickly s possible with Jake using hi free hand to weave John around obstacles. Once outside, John let loose the bile that was building up in his throat and Jake rubbed his back to soothe the ailing teen as he tugged the scarf off of John's face. Jake waited patiently for John to calm down, and scared off several Hunters for trying to interrogate John.
"Can you believe these plonkers? Trying to bother a poor child-" Jake savagely muttered.
"J-Jake?" John coughed and the older of the buck-toothed duo turned around and went to the teen's side immediately.
"Yes, punky?" Jake asked, wrapping an arm around John's shoulder to keep the younger from turning around to see the slovenly state the house was in.
"C-can we go to your flat now?"
Jake nodded and the two went to Jake's car and rode in silence to the apartment complex Jake lived in. John remained silent as they entered the green and black schemed apartment.
"Hungry?" Jake asked.
"No," John quietly responded as he trudged over the green, carpeted floor of the living room and plopped face first on the black, leather couch.
"My couch isn't a comfortable place to sleep on, punky."
"I don't want to sleep."
"I beg to differ. You just went through a traumatic attack and puked your bloody brains out. Go to your room and I'll bring you some water to keep you hydrated."
John sat up and stared at Jake with dull blue eyes and the tears started to cascade down his cheeks. Jake's heart shattered at the sight and he went to John and sat beside him on the couch and opened his arms. John accepted the invitation, embracing his cousin and sobbing into his chest.
"It'll be alright John," Jake muttered as he returned the embrace and rocked the teen back and forth in a comforting manner, "You'll be alright. I got you. I'm here."
Jake repeated those four sentences like a mantra until John's sobbing reduced to sniffles. A somber silence enveloped the two and Jake sighed.
"I know this isn't the proper time, but I have to get it over with so the other Hunters won't bother you," Jake hesitated as he felt John tense in his arms, "What happened John?"
John didn't answer for a couple of moments before he sniffled, "I-I don't know. It happened so fast. I went to bed and then Dad woke me up, made sure I had my Pogo Hammer ring, and he stuffed me in the Bunker with a change of clothes. He told me that we…we were surrounded by Rogues and to not open the Bunker or come out and then he slammed the Bunker door closed, and locked it…..Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Dad's dead, isn't he?"
"We don't know yet. It's too early in the investigation."
"But he wasn't there?"
"No, John. Don't think about those things, okay? I'll handle it. You need to rest and recover."
John nodded and clung to Jake tighter. "And Jake?"
"Yeah, punky?"
"I don't want to be a Hunter anymore….well, I couldn't anyway but I don't want to train anymore."
"I'll give a call and sort it out." Jake nudged John. "Now off to bed you go."
John released Jake and kissed his cheek. "Love you cuz."
"Love you too, punky."
Then John holed himself up in the guest bedroom that he claimed as his own. For a month, John wallowed in his blue, hooded pajamas while Jake made sure the teen ate, and comforted him when he was haunted by nightmares.