Her name was Kimberly Harper, but everyone knew her as Kim. She believed the name 'Kimberly' was too formal and polite, demeaning her to the stereotype of a precious little girl. Kim held herself tall and structured with her head straight and her shoulder back, a look of informal intensity.

It was rare to see her in brightly coloured or properly fitted clothes, not bothering with the ordeal they created. Instead, she was only found wearing rugged clothes that were comfortable and practical, mostly in various shades of brown, black and camouflage green. She would rarely be spotted without a large jacket and an angel pin fastened on her shirt, hidden from sight.

Her hair was jet black and slightly wavy, almost immune to a full curl, and her eyes were a rich dark brown. Her look was not something associated with a petite, pretty name like 'Kimberly'.

Although most hunters knew her name, not a lot of people truly knew her. She spent most of her time by herself, keeping her life as private as possible. Working solo was simpler without having to worry about someone else getting in trouble or ruing your plans and Kim would never have the faith needed in someone to complete a job, and she always completed a job. She was the type of person to mind her own business and go on with her life, living and working alone. It was the wisest way to live as a hunter, considering her reputation. She never liked to talk about herself, instantly making her feel vulnerable and trapped. She knew it was better if she kept to herself.

Like most hunters, Kim's past was troubling. Ever since she was young, she had noticed she had been different from the people she saw at school. Her lifestyle kept changing — she moved schools, lost friends and lived in motels with her older sister, unaware of when or if her father would return from his latest hunt. Her youngest memories were filled with creatures her peers couldn't even imagine, and before she knew it, she was left alone in the world at the age of thirteen, before her childhood was over. It definitely wasn't a life anyone would wish upon their child.

Everything happened so rapidly in Kim's eyes. The years she took for granted with her family flew by and within a blink of an eye, she was alone, carrying the burden of her family's hunting profession on her shoulders. She did her best to manage her life alone while living in her family's Jeep, not bothering with school and attempting to hunt with her father's gun and tracking with his old hunting books.

She was a determined young child; her persistent attitude was something that kept her alive. She spent all of her free time teaching herself how to hunt. Practising shooting trees or cans she found in allies, gradually getting further away from them the better she became. At first, the guns were almost impossible to use. Most were too big for her to carry or handle, the guns flopping in her untrained arms and jolting her back every time she fired.

Her father had a lot of guns, but she was more of a blades person herself. She preferred the feel of the knife, the freedom it possessed as she would swing it in whichever direction she liked. She sliced trees and barrels of hay, she even made a small dummy for herself out of some material she found in the streets and practised her fighting on them until the knife felt like an extension of her arm. What else was a thirteen-year-old supposed to do with no school, no family, and a reputation to maintain.

Finding and working cases became the next issue, but with no money, she was living out of the family car and scrambling for food, she had no way of finding cases. Mostly, she would get whiffs of things from word of mouth, eavesdropping whenever she suspected a hunter was nearby.

She forced herself to remember all the stories her father told her about his hunts so she could memorise and use his techniques, where she learned how to fix her mistakes. She had to if she wanted to survive. She pushed herself harder — physically and mentally — than any thirteen-year-old should, resulting in exhaustion in all aspects of her life.

Half a year after her sister's death, Kim came to know a man who would change the way she saw the hunting world. He was a well-known hunter whose reputation was legendary and was admired for his expertise and dedication to his work.

When he came across Kim on a case she never should have been on, he felt obliged to teach her some of the basics, just to help her survive. Reasonably, he had tried to convince the young girl that hunting wasn't a safe option for her. She stared at him blankly and wondered if he thought this was new information to her. Of course, she knew it wasn't safe, her entire family was six feet under because of it, but hunting was the only thing that kept Kim remotely tied to her family. The Jeep was just a car and her parent's weapons were just weapons; their legacy was who they were and Kim wasn't going to lose them because it was her 'safest option'.

The man taught her the basics, holding a gun properly and knowing when to fire, but she already knew all his tricks. Once he realised she already mastered them, he hesitantly moved onto more advanced moves. Every missing detail from Kim's knowledge of hunting was taught to her by this man and transformed her into the hunter she had become.

She looked up to him, not only as her hunting mentor but as the only adult influence she had in her life. She had been travelling with him for a month or so when he told her that he had a family of his own and that he had to go back to them. Kim knew of his priority to his family, along with the hunting reputation he had to maintain, so she didn't fret when he left her at his friends' house while he went away.

Kim was dropped off without an introduction to a bar she had never seen or heard of before and was left at the entrance. She thought he would be back to pick her up in a week's time, but a week turned into two, and two turned into four and Kim soon realised her 'visit' was a permanent move.

Occasionally, he picked her up when he found a simple, nearby case. He hadn't ditched her completely, and because of what he meant to her, she forgave him his first return.

To be honest, Kim hadn't minded the change after a few days at the Roadhouse and started to look up and admire the woman that took her in as much as she did the man that left her there and she soon considered her and the others that lived there, family.

A few years on and Kim was eighteen. She had continued living as a hunter, making sure she lived up to her family's reputation while establishing one for herself.

Sitting in the front seat of her car, she drove down the familiar highway, her mind littered with foul thoughts about the news she heard not long ago. She could not get it out of her head. It pounded in her brain, causing her to have frequent, mind-throbbing headaches that would bring tears to her eyes, but she refused to cry. She stopped eating and she barely slept after hearing it, so she decided to drive to the closest thing she had to home.

The ride was probably no less than an hour, but it managed to feel agonisingly slow to Kim. Swinging out of her car, the Jeep's door slammed behind her as she marched her way towards the Roadhouse. With each step, the gravel road flung up behind her, leaving a cloud of dust hovering over the ground. The blank expression she wore on the car ride to the bar hadn't changed as she entered. The hope of a familiar surrounding to comfort her slowly dwindled as hunters invaded the bar. She sat on an empty stool at the bar bench that was littered with guns, ammo, and knives being polished. Ellen approached her from behind the bar, wiping a glass clean.

"Good to see you're still alive," Ellen spoke sarcastically, although with a serious look in her eyes. Ellen was a kind woman with a secure smile and death glare set to kill, along with being one of the few people Kim considered family. She watched as Ellen leaned on the bar, waiting for an explanation that she knew wasn't going to come.

"Yeah, my bad," Kim replied. She looked down and folded her arms, resting them on the bar. Considering the comfort of a familiar setting had failed to make her feel better, she planned on drinking to get her mind off things. Too many thoughts were floating up in her mind and she needed a release.

"Ash and Jo have been asking about you," Ellen mentioned. "They want to know how you're doing, where you are, what you're up to... or if you're dead. I keep telling them what I know, but that doesn't really help because I don't know anything." She was trying to make Kim feel guilty. It was her signature move when she wanted to get information out of Kim, but she rarely ever gave in.

"You're not going to guilt me into talking. I have nothing to talk about," Kim explained, putting on a fake and obviously sarcastic smile. Ellen sighed, stood up straight and decided to move on, knowing she wasn't going to get anything out of that girl. Ellen knew what was affecting Kim; she heard the news earlier. She knew she would never be able to make Kim admit her feelings.

"So, what can I get you?" Ellen asked, not expecting the answer that she got.

"A shot of whiskey," Kim answered honestly. She got a loud laugh from Ellen as a response.

"I'm not giving you a shot. You're too young, it's illegal," Ellen explained.

"Nineteen's not that young—"

"You're eighteen."

"Nineteen in a month!"

"Since when does that make it legal?" Ellen questioned in a motherly tone.

"Since when did you care about the law?" Kim mimicked. Kim's expression softened slightly. "Listen, I just really need something," she whispered, rubbing her temples. "Plus, it's legal in Australia," she added. Kim really needed a drink and she was ready to say anything to convince Ellen to give her one.

"Well, we're not in Australia, now, are we?" Ellen argued. Kim groaned and Ellen noticed the sorrow expression on Kim's face. "Kim, I heard the news and it's not your fault—"

"Don't," Kim growled through gritted teeth.

"You've got to understand—"

"I said don't."

"Listen, Kim—"

Ellen continued to talk in hopes of somehow helping Kim, but it just infuriated her more. Kim had blocked her out instantly. She was in no mood for pity and felt her frustration and guilt continue to build inside her like an intense bomb. Kim watched numbly as Ellen's lips moved, not hearing any sound, her whole body tensing. Everything she had repressed was building up inside her, festering until release. Kim stood up sharply, slamming her fist into the counter, finally silencing Ellen.

"A shot. Beer. Hell, I'll even take wine or a fricking cocktail, I just need something!" Kim yelled, struggling to hold back her emotions after repeatedly asking for Ellen to drop it. After acknowledging her pain, Ellen turned around hesitantly to get Kim her liquor as Kim slumped back down on her chair.

Looking around the bar, Kim had found that some customers were staring at her, intrigued by her sudden outburst. Their eyes watched her as she slumped away from them, awaiting the alcohol. With a heavy feeling of eyes glaring at her, she soon became aware of several people in the Roadhouse and became undeniably uncomfortable, so she looked back down, regretting her prior actions.

She knew that minding her own business was necessary. Not a lot of hunters enjoyed their backstory and would rather a demon possess their body than talk about it. Although she knew almost everyone's name in that bar, it didn't mean they were close, and with that fact, she also understood a lot of people knew her name.

Kimberly Harper. Taught by the greatest, gets the job done, and is definitely not someone to mess with. That's all they knew about her and that's all they'd ever know. She preferred it that way.

Ellen returned with a drink for Kim and she dropped it in front of her, causing some to splash out. Kim looked at the drink dissatisfied.

"Half a shot? Really?" Kim questioned.

"Hon, it's half a shot or nothing."

Kim grunted and drank the shot with a quick swig, her eyes slamming shut. The small amount of hard liquor burned as it travelled down her throat. Kim hoped the small drink would stop the thoughts in her head — all the horrible thoughts that were crammed into her mind, suffocating her, making it feel like the weight of the world was balanced on her shoulders. It didn't. Her mind was still uncontrollably littered with the tragic news she had heard, and although she was dissatisfied with the amount of liquor she got, she still prayed it would be enough to slightly still her thoughts.

Ellen watched as Kim finished her shot, seeing it disappear in a blink of an eye. She sighed knowing that Kim somewhat blamed herself for his death. Kim's mind was filled with guilt, regret, and what could have been if she were there when he died.

Ellen tried to reason with her, but Kim refused to listen. "Kim, you couldn't have done anything. He—"

"I was supposed to be there," she interjected, a faint whimper stuck in her throat. Her tone quickly became angry. "I was going to visit him that day. That day! Do you know how shitty that is? I could have been there, I could have done something—but no! I just had to wait another week! It's not like I hadn't seen him in a whole year or anything," she rambled, disgusted with herself, "A year, Ellen. I hadn't seen him for a whole year and now I'll never see him again. He's dead."

Frustrated and riddled with guilt, Kim stood up to leave without a goodbye, but Ellen grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking.

"Where do you think you're going? You just had a shot—"

"Half a shot."

"And you're not driving," Ellen persisted. "Your room is still the same as it was before. Stay here the night."

"That room gives me nightmares," Kim said seriously, a mocking huff attached to the end. "Too many colours. And I'm not even drunk. It was half a shot."

"You're going to sleep here," Ellen said, refusing her answer.

"No. I'm driving to the nearest motel and sleeping there," Kim said. "I—I just want to be alone." She watched as Ellen walked towards the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water to hand to Kim.

"Fine. But if you're driving, take this. Clear most of the alcohol out of your system." Ellen smiled softly. Looking down at the bottle, Kim took it thankfully.

"Thanks," Kim spoke softly, not for the bottle of water, but for the thought behind it.

"That's what family's for," Ellen said, walking away to continue her job.

Kim felt the cold bottle of water freeze her bare hand as she held it. She looked down at it and smiled slightly and took a sip feeling the cold water to wash away the distinct taste of alcohol. With that, she walked out of the bar with a slight smile on her face which finally destroying the foul expression she wore.

She walked to her car, dragging her feet on the dusty road, feeling accomplished even though she didn't get what she went there for. Kim watched as her feet kicked up dust from the path. The smell of gravel filled her nose as she accidentally kicked a few rocks into her boots. The night was dark and the only light that was guiding her was the light from inside the bar.

With her head still down and her thoughts in a different world, she felt a nudge on her shoulder as she walked. She had bumped shoulders with someone who was quite a bit taller than her. She turned around and saw that it was two males walking towards the bar she had just left. They both turned around and Kim caught a small glimpse of their faces from the weak light from inside the bar. The one that she walked into was tall and muscular with a small amount of stubble and a long jacket. The other he was with was taller with long hair with a sharp jawline. His eyes were kind and forgiving while the others looked less inviting. He looked back at her and then to the bar but didn't stop walking and neither did Kim.

She walked towards her car and from the darkness, admired the classic Impala that was almost completely hidden in the darkness. She got into her car and drove away from the light of the welcoming Roadhouse, into the deep abyss of the empty road that looks as if all happiness had died up ahead. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if she saw a sign that said exactly that.

She took the lonely drive carelessly, not putting much effort into anything she was doing. Her mind drifted as she controlled the car, finding her way to a motel close by.

Kim pulled into a motel that was only thirty minutes up the road. The small street lights only lit up small spaces around them while the cheap motel lights only lit up the crummy pathway towards the motel. She parked her car in the empty parking lot and walked into the two-story building.

After paying for a room, she walked through the lobby and up a few flights of stairs with her green duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She entered room labelled '185' and dropped her bag before slamming the door shut. The room was grey and dark with the curtains shut and the lights off. Her hand searched the wall for the light switch. The rough texture of the wallpapers made her fingertips uncomfortable and dry. She quickly turned on the lights and was grateful to see a double bed and a small TV around the corner, something she did not expect for the money she paid.

Kim plonked herself on the bed and lazily covered herself in the blankets. Although the bed wasn't the most comfortable things she'd slept on, it beat the car seat she'd been sleeping on for the past month. She sighed, letting herself sink into the warm blankets, hoping to release the stress and worries she'd been thinking about over the past week. After very little sleep and an empty stomach, Kim tried to find the will to rest, assuming the warmth of the blankets would assist her. Unexpectedly, she felt her eyelids getting heavier and welcomed the numbness of sleep, letting the thoughts slip from her mind, even if it was only for an hour or so.

•※•

Kim woke up multiple times during the night, staying awake for hours at a time, praying exhaustion would overcome her and she would pass out, but she spent most of the night awake. She groaned, rubbing her eyes. She dragged herself out of bed unwillingly and sloppily made her way to the bathroom to wash her face, hoping it would help keep her stay awake for the rest of the day. The cold water dripped down her face, making her feel like she had been awake for eight hours already. She blinked her eyes a few times so that they could adjust before boiling water with the crappy, rusted kettle she found in the kitchen and make herself a cup of instant coffee, complimentary from the motel.

Kim didn't sleep well that night, getting a maximum of three hours and to make matters worse, she was not a morning person. After she was awake she was fine, but it was the thirty minutes beforehand that made life seem like a living hell. Although her night was restless, it was one of the more peaceful nights she had experienced that week. Along with the sleepless nights and nightmare-filled naps, Kim would sometimes wake to an agonising pain surging through her body, frequent hot flashes and burning pains, which she was fortunate enough to not have that night.

She sat on the couch near the TV and pulled the ruggedly, old blanket left on the couch over her lap. For a moment Kim believed her life was normal. Just a normal girl with a normal mug drinking normal coffee in her normal home, although she knew it was far from true since she was not a normal girl and this wasn't her home. It seemed that Kim hadn't had a real home since her mother's death and although Ellen welcomed Kim into her house, it was never home.

She pulled out a book from her bag and started reading it. It was one of her father's antique hunting books. The book was old and had folded corners, the cover from the book was ripped and the pages were frayed and were soft in her fingers as she gently turned the page, not wanting to rip it.

The book was titled something in Latin. All she knew was that that book was about uncommon signs of demonic possession and could hold the answer to why she has sudden pain surges. Kim could read broken Latin, but the title of that book seemed unfamiliar to her. Thankfully, it was written in English, only small annotations were in Latin.

She held the book firmly in her hands as if she feared to let it go because it could be the answer to a question she had been asking herself for months. She read every word carefully, making sure she understood the hidden messages the author may have added.

With every page, she realised she was reaching the end of the book and still had not found an answer to her question. Although slightly relieved that it wasn't any form of demonic possession, it added another question to her growing list.

She sighed, putting the book down almost disappointed, she got up from the couch and started packing, knowing that the time she paid for was almost up. By the time she packed the last thing into her bag there was a knock on her door, meaning she stayed over time. She grabbed her duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder before walking out towards her car, seeing the classic car that was parked next to hers the night before at the Roadhouse. Thinking nothing of it, Kim quickly got into her car and started driving towards the place she pinpointed last night before she went to Ellen's bar.

She had heard that something strange happened at a nearby cemetery. She got in her car and started to drive in the direction of the graveyard, silently hoping she would find a case. She was in the mood for a hunt. She used it as a form of distraction. Her fingers tightly wrapped around the steering wheel of the car and adjusted herself slightly.

The drive wasn't short but it felt shorter because Kim spaced out on her drive. She arrived shortly and got out of the car and walked into the cemetery, her trusty iron knife tucked safely away in her waistband.

The open land was filled with sad and lonely gravestones set in symmetrical rows, placed next to a complete stranger for the rest of eternity. People walked along the rows of empty grass unknowingly walking on top of someone's buried body. Their faces were down, looking at stones that represented someone's whole life.

Kim walked along the rows of grass and observing the gravestones from afar. She walked slowly, dragging her feet along the freshly cut grass that surrounded every stone, her arm folded over her chest as she played with her necklace chain. The rough metal rubbed between her fingers. Kim sighed, thinking that this could be her place in a short few years. But she knew hunters didn't get buried, they get salted and burned.

The hunt seemed uninteresting and the cemetery was as normal and eerie as any other. The uneasy feeling, she used to get when entering a place like this had become numb and she wandered unfazed through the rows of graves.

She brushed her fingers on the top of the stones, feeling the rough stone scratch her fingers. A cold presence shivered down her spine as she walked past a line of graves as if someone was close to her. Kim stopped and looked up and around, expecting to find someone near her, but she was utterly alone.

Feeling slightly eerie, she turned around and walked in a different direction but was confronted by a tree that looked almost dead. Suspicious, she inspected the tree, knocking on the truck; it was hollow. The leaves and flowers were dried and crunchy. They turned to dust with a simple touch of Kim's fingers. She looked down and saw that she was standing on was a perfect circle of dead grass surrounding one single gravestone.

Curiously, Kim walked up to the gravestone and inspected it. The flowers left there for Angela Mason's grave were just like the flowers and leaves on the tree, dead. With curiosity running through her veins, she ran her hands through the dead grass, feeling it between her fingertips.

Kim picked out a strand of grass and rubbed it between her fingers before letting it go in the soft wind. She went for a small walk around the cemetery looking for the groundskeeper. When she found him, she asked a few questions and found out that there was no poison sprayed on the grass, it just 'showed up one day' in his words.

She walked back to her car, cautiously looking around, still not sure who or what could do something like this. It could be a demonic possession of her dead body. She got into her car and pulled out her laptop, placing it on her lap. She could feel it heating up her legs making her adjust slightly.

She looked at the screen and put it in full brightness since it was indistinguishable from the light outside shining on the screen. Kim squinted her eyes and put her face close to the screen, almost so her nose was touching it. She looked up the girl, Angela Mason, and found out that she had a father named Dr. Mason that worked at the school she went to teaching Ancient Greek and that she lived with a roommate named Lindsey.

She figured out Angela's dad's address and where his office was and decided to go there a little later on in the day since it was still quite early in the morning. She quickly shut her laptop and put it away before driving to a small park she found nearby.

The park was green, very green. The luscious grass was soft on her legs as she laid down under the shade of a weeping willow tree. Trees and shrubs scattered the park, covering the ground with shade and in the centre was a small playground with only a few children on it. With her duffel bag by her side, Kim laid on the grass with her back up against the tree. She pulled out another book about a creature that could cause something like what she had just seen, but she couldn't find anything that could have caused the dead plants. Again, her eyes scanned every word to perfection to make sure she didn't miss anything, she couldn't afford to miss anything.

By the time Kim had finished reading the book, it was time to see Dr. Mason.