I sat there, listening to music quietly, for a few hours. You know, just cruising the Internet. My first stops were pretty typical- a few webcomics, some news and a series of IM programs. But it just didn't seem the same. Same music I listened to every day, visited the same sites, chatted with the same people...everything was different. I tried to shake the feeling, but I couldn't.

The room was dark, lit only by the screen of my laptop. I dragged the Glock as I shifted around the room, trying to get comfortable. My back was really bothering me, I guess. I rolled around a little, lying on my stomach. I must've hit something, because next thing I know I'm at this weird anonymous-liberty site. I don't know, it was Jack Ruby type stuff. I filled out this quiz they threw at me, and suddenly...enlightenment.

Hunter-net was a blessing. I almost woke Red up to read some of the posts. I bookmarked all the sites- Firelight, Unity, Vigil, the works. Okay, let me explain. I'm not crazy. There really are monsters in this world, and some kickass cosmic force seems to be picking people at random to take up the sword and fight back. Not only that, said force of the universe has gifted us with powers.

Needless to say, wow.

I registered as student243, and spent until dawn reading. Red was up, but he had only gotten a few hours of sleep. He grumbled, looked around.

"Hey, anything happen."

"Nope."

"Good, let's get moving. Pack up the gear, we'll get breakfast at Waffle House. Oh, and Jesus kid, get yourself a holster for that thing."

I grumbled and got to work as Red grabbed himself a shower. Rooting through the gear bag, I managed to find an old Uncle Mike's that fit on my belt nicely. Just as I was putting the Glock in there, my body seemed to remember it needed fuel. I changed, and since Red was so close, I guess I figured it was okay to grab a can of Pepsi or something. Bad idea.

I was walking over to the machine, sweatshirt hiding most of the gun, when I saw him. Something was off. I looked at him again as he passed me, really concentrated. He was surrounded by darkness, that's the only way I could describe it. He was two doors down from us. Without realizing it, I had the gun drawn, hidden by my leg. I holstered back up, ran back to our room. Red was just stepping out the shower. I told him everything.