Part 18
After two days of debating what to do the Hunter finally came up with a plan. He allowed himself a small satisfied smirk as he loaded the bullets into his gun. Why take unnecessary risks going directly for the twins? They seemed to have an annoying knack for getting away. It was time once again to show them whose shadow they lived in.
He'd done it before, and it had been extremely enjoyable. The look on the little bitch's face when he'd killed her lover directly in front of her...A shiver of pleasure ran through him at the memory. Almost like a high.
He held up a silver bullet examining it in the harsh lamp light. He knew none of those Night People were *normal* Night People, they all had something added on to general vampire and shifter powers.
Silver killed shapeshifters and as far as he knew it would do enough damage for now.
Under a cover of darkness he slipped out of his motel room and into the small town. It was late, and hardly anyone was out on the streets. The burger bar was closed, the pizza place down the street was still open, laughing voices and music echoed from inside.
He peered in at the window, but couldn't make out the people he was looking for. He dreaded the thought of going inside. It would be hard to kill people in a crowd, and someone would notice a figure in black from head to toe, including ski mask. Plus his shot guy, even with a silencer on would be a dead give away.
Still, he refused to give up this little side mission. He wasn't going to fail again. A sudden discovery of twins rather than one girl had thrown him off the mark. Didn't matter. He was still going to get on his feet.
"Well *that* was a total waste of time," a snotty voice complained.
The Hunter turned his attention to the girl leaving the two screen movie theatre.
"It wasn't *that* bad," the boy with her said reasonably. "What'd you want? A full Night Person cast film?" He smiled a little, golden eyes twinkling.
"Keep your voice down, for God's sake, Aries," the brown haired girl snapped, looking around.
What luck. The Hunter took out his gun. Aries...one of the shapeshifters. And the girl with him was obviously a Night Person too. He called out softly, talking in Italian deliberately to distract them.
They both looked at him as if he were crazy. He fired two quick shots directly at the head. The two surprised monsters fell to the floor. The Hunter would have liked to hang around for a bit longer, wait to see the town's reaction when the bodies were found.
Unfortunately, his brain caught up with him and he disappeared, slipping away under his cover of darkness.
* * *
It was all over the school the next morning. The cold blooded murders of Aries and Orchid. Shot in the head - with silver bullets. Rhea didn't understand how it could have happened. Someone who knew they were Night People. Why else go to all the bother of making silver bullets? Someone who deliberately wanted to shock.
Well, they'd achieved that. Rhea stumbled around her morning classes in a daze, not really sure why she was even there.
"It beats being at home," Brandon pointed out. "I dread to think how Serefina's taking this."
He had a point. Rhea wondered if Serefina would even care. Lately she'd been even more distant than usual. It was like she wasn't even there half the time, and that was scary enough.
"I'll give you three guesses at who's responsible," Aurora said, her eyes narrowed in hatred.
Rhea eyed her with confusion. Who could have - ?
"The vermin," Brandon said, expression turning to one of disgust. "They know. They've never liked us."
"Bingo," Aurora agreed. "We should have killed them when we had the chance."
Paige was coming down the hall, not even bothering to hide her smug expression. Juliana and Charlene were behind her. Charlene looked as vague as Serefina. Juliana didn't look pleased.
"How'd you do it?" Aurora demanded, storming towards them. "Bet those bullets must have cost a pretty penny."
"I knew this would happen," Paige said, folding her arms. "As much I would have liked to, I didn't get the chance to kill them."
"It was the Hunter," Charlene said softly.
Rhea frowned, remembering Juliana's story from the other day. Things had been fine up until *she* had got there.
"If you think about it, this is all *her* fault," Paige said smugly, saying exactly what Rhea had been thinking. "The Hunter wants to hurt *her*, and obviously doesn't have any problem with hurting the people around her."
Juliana sighed. "It's not my fault," she complained. "I don't know *why* he hates me."
"Maybe we need to do some more background work on where this guy is coming from," Brandon suggested.
"Who says it's a guy?" Aurora pointed out. That point had never come up before.
This *Hunter* was the key to everything. It was their fault. They wouldn't stop until Juliana was dead. It was all well and good realising that, but what the hell were they going to do about it?
"Try running again," Paige suggested with a slight smile.
"That won't do any good," Juliana said patiently.
"Plus, I'm not going anywhere," Charlene pointed out. "If he hangs around he'll just think she's me."
There was a hiatus. No one could think of anything to say. Silence echoed all around.
"We need to find this Hunter," Rhea said finally. It was pretty much a given.
"You need to tell us everything you can remember," Brandon said to Juliana. "In more detail."
"I guess."
It was a lousy plan, but it was the only plan they had. Rhea didn't want to hang around, waiting for this insane person to pick them off one by one, or two by two as the case seemed to be.
Another thought was starting to form in her mind. She met Aurora's eyes and smiled. Aurora was thinking exactly the same thing.
* * *
After two days of debating what to do the Hunter finally came up with a plan. He allowed himself a small satisfied smirk as he loaded the bullets into his gun. Why take unnecessary risks going directly for the twins? They seemed to have an annoying knack for getting away. It was time once again to show them whose shadow they lived in.
He'd done it before, and it had been extremely enjoyable. The look on the little bitch's face when he'd killed her lover directly in front of her...A shiver of pleasure ran through him at the memory. Almost like a high.
He held up a silver bullet examining it in the harsh lamp light. He knew none of those Night People were *normal* Night People, they all had something added on to general vampire and shifter powers.
Silver killed shapeshifters and as far as he knew it would do enough damage for now.
Under a cover of darkness he slipped out of his motel room and into the small town. It was late, and hardly anyone was out on the streets. The burger bar was closed, the pizza place down the street was still open, laughing voices and music echoed from inside.
He peered in at the window, but couldn't make out the people he was looking for. He dreaded the thought of going inside. It would be hard to kill people in a crowd, and someone would notice a figure in black from head to toe, including ski mask. Plus his shot guy, even with a silencer on would be a dead give away.
Still, he refused to give up this little side mission. He wasn't going to fail again. A sudden discovery of twins rather than one girl had thrown him off the mark. Didn't matter. He was still going to get on his feet.
"Well *that* was a total waste of time," a snotty voice complained.
The Hunter turned his attention to the girl leaving the two screen movie theatre.
"It wasn't *that* bad," the boy with her said reasonably. "What'd you want? A full Night Person cast film?" He smiled a little, golden eyes twinkling.
"Keep your voice down, for God's sake, Aries," the brown haired girl snapped, looking around.
What luck. The Hunter took out his gun. Aries...one of the shapeshifters. And the girl with him was obviously a Night Person too. He called out softly, talking in Italian deliberately to distract them.
They both looked at him as if he were crazy. He fired two quick shots directly at the head. The two surprised monsters fell to the floor. The Hunter would have liked to hang around for a bit longer, wait to see the town's reaction when the bodies were found.
Unfortunately, his brain caught up with him and he disappeared, slipping away under his cover of darkness.
* * *
It was all over the school the next morning. The cold blooded murders of Aries and Orchid. Shot in the head - with silver bullets. Rhea didn't understand how it could have happened. Someone who knew they were Night People. Why else go to all the bother of making silver bullets? Someone who deliberately wanted to shock.
Well, they'd achieved that. Rhea stumbled around her morning classes in a daze, not really sure why she was even there.
"It beats being at home," Brandon pointed out. "I dread to think how Serefina's taking this."
He had a point. Rhea wondered if Serefina would even care. Lately she'd been even more distant than usual. It was like she wasn't even there half the time, and that was scary enough.
"I'll give you three guesses at who's responsible," Aurora said, her eyes narrowed in hatred.
Rhea eyed her with confusion. Who could have - ?
"The vermin," Brandon said, expression turning to one of disgust. "They know. They've never liked us."
"Bingo," Aurora agreed. "We should have killed them when we had the chance."
Paige was coming down the hall, not even bothering to hide her smug expression. Juliana and Charlene were behind her. Charlene looked as vague as Serefina. Juliana didn't look pleased.
"How'd you do it?" Aurora demanded, storming towards them. "Bet those bullets must have cost a pretty penny."
"I knew this would happen," Paige said, folding her arms. "As much I would have liked to, I didn't get the chance to kill them."
"It was the Hunter," Charlene said softly.
Rhea frowned, remembering Juliana's story from the other day. Things had been fine up until *she* had got there.
"If you think about it, this is all *her* fault," Paige said smugly, saying exactly what Rhea had been thinking. "The Hunter wants to hurt *her*, and obviously doesn't have any problem with hurting the people around her."
Juliana sighed. "It's not my fault," she complained. "I don't know *why* he hates me."
"Maybe we need to do some more background work on where this guy is coming from," Brandon suggested.
"Who says it's a guy?" Aurora pointed out. That point had never come up before.
This *Hunter* was the key to everything. It was their fault. They wouldn't stop until Juliana was dead. It was all well and good realising that, but what the hell were they going to do about it?
"Try running again," Paige suggested with a slight smile.
"That won't do any good," Juliana said patiently.
"Plus, I'm not going anywhere," Charlene pointed out. "If he hangs around he'll just think she's me."
There was a hiatus. No one could think of anything to say. Silence echoed all around.
"We need to find this Hunter," Rhea said finally. It was pretty much a given.
"You need to tell us everything you can remember," Brandon said to Juliana. "In more detail."
"I guess."
It was a lousy plan, but it was the only plan they had. Rhea didn't want to hang around, waiting for this insane person to pick them off one by one, or two by two as the case seemed to be.
Another thought was starting to form in her mind. She met Aurora's eyes and smiled. Aurora was thinking exactly the same thing.
* * *