Next up we have, um, Mr. Bender. #6102…

You can call me Pa – ever'body does. That's something I take pride in 'cause, to me, it means I'm looked to as a father, somebody who's respected and obeyed. A father is the head of the house, a provider, and a teacher.

And I was good at all of it. I had me three young'uns. There was Lee, the oldest, and Jared – both of'um fine young men. Both of'um strong and fierce, but mindful of their daddy. Good hunters, too. Well, of course they were – I taught'um myself.

Then, there was my little princess, Missy. Whew, I was a bit worried when her mother died (rest her soul) – I didn't know how to raise no girl, but Missy was on her way to becoming a right fine young lady. And she was smart and strong, too. Well, she had to be, what with living with three men in the house.

We lived a good life in our own private haven away from the rest of the world. It might'a been what you'd call 'old fashioned', but it was good enough for my daddy… It was the way I was raised and so it was the way I done raised my kin. We didn't none of us have no jobs and such; we worked our land for what we needed.

When I was a boy, my daddy took me out huntin' ever'week. We got our exercise and our meat through the hunt. And there's nothing better for learnin' – cause you gotta be smart to get the best of some animals. As I got better at outsmartin', I wanted more of a challenge. That led to hunting bigger and smarter animals.

One day, just after Missy was born and her mama passed, a stranger come pokin' 'round our land. Said he wanted to buy up the property and all. When I told him I weren't interested, he left but then came back threatening to take our home away and waving a bunch of papers in my face.

I tried to ignore him, but he kept coming back. He started bothering the boys while they were out doing their chores. Then, one day that feller made a bad mistake. Jared came into the house crying and bleeding. The feller hurt my boy!

Well, I grabbed me my hunting rifle and went out to where he stood threatening Lee, hand around my boy's arm and shaking him. I yelled at the feller to leave and not come back. First he looked at me like he thought I didn't have the nerve to shoot him. I put that thought outta his head right quick by shooting a rabbit dead not six feet away.

The feller took off through the trees, but he was yelling about getting the cops and throwing me in jail and my boys going to a home for wrongdoers. Well, I saw red. I took off after that feller and I hunted him down.

When he was good and dead, I had myself a moment of panic. I just killed a man, not a good man, but a man nonetheless. I took him back to the house through the back where I keep my game and prepare it. I made sure the door was locked so the kids couldn't wander in and see'im. Then, I found the feller's car and went through it to see if anybody knew where he had gone. The man looked to be alone in the world and so I breathed out my relief and hid the car.

As I walked back to the house, I started feeling the thrill of the hunt – now that the panic was gone. People don't react like animals. They have some of the same instincts, but they use their brains different. I never felt such a rush.

My next hunt was a disappointment. I couldn't get the same thrill hunting animals. That feller ruined it for me.

The boys saw that I wasn't happy no-mores, so's they went out and got me a Father's Day gift – some hitchhiker they found while they was at the edge of our land. I was so touched by the gesture that I couldn't yell at'em for being too close to the road.

(wipes away a proud tear)

That's how it all started. We would find somebody alone in the world, so's nobody would come a-lookin' for'um. And, we didn't take too many so's to make people 'spicious. I taught my boys like my daddy taught me, only 'stead of wild animals, we hunted wild human animals.

That's really all people are anyways, just animals that think they ain't 'wild'. But they's wrong.

Now, 'course, you couldn't always find the right person to hunt at the right time, so we's built up some cages to keep'em in until the time was right. And the boys got real good at finding the right people.

One day, they brought back this tall drink of water, young and athletic looking. He was going to be a good hunt. But, we had one in the wings already so the tall'um'd have to wait.

Problem was, before it was time for another hunt, some little police-gal came by the house and started asking questions. We got the drop on her, but next thing we knows, there's another feller sneakin' 'round the house. And that boy done put up a fight!

Well, things were startin' to go a little crazy. I had to put a stop to all these folks coming to the house right quick. Instead'a taking this new boy out to a cage, I wanted to get some answers outta'im. But, that boy had a smart mouth and sassed me and made threats 'gainst my family. I guess not all fathers know how to raise their boys proper, so I took it upon myself to teach that boy a lesson. Well, I never weren't none for sparin' the rod or spoilin' the child.

Once it was clear that nobody else'd be coming after these three, I told the boy to choose the prey for our hunt – the gal or t'other boy. He tried to refuse, but I… convinced'im. He chose the other boy.

I sent Lee out to take care of t'other boy – shoot him in the cage, I says – and then shoot the gal. Well, the boy, who turned out to be t'other boy's brother, started yellin' and threatenin' again. I nearly sent Missy outta the room. Thought his angry words would turn to cursin', and that's not for a good young lady's ears.

Now, I knew my boys were disappointed. After all, they was lookin' forward to a-huntin' that tall feller, but I has to think of my family's safety first. I kept watch a'the time and started wonderin' why I hadn't heard Lee's gun. Why, if that boy decided to go against my order and hunt that kid…

I told Missy to keep an eye on the feller in the house and me and Jared went to see what was going on in the barn. It was too dark and too quiet, and the gal's cage was empty. We checked the boy's cage and found Lee inside, out cold. We split up to look 'round.

I found the feller, but before I knew it, he was a-duckin' out'a my way and I was gettin' shot by my own son. The gal comes up and holds my own gun on me and all I can do is watch while the feller knocks my boy around. When he was done, the feller left to find his brother… 'course, I knows Missy'd take care of'im.

Then this gal starts asking me questions 'bout our hunts. Well, one in particular. Guess we hunted out her brother once. I laughed as I started thinking about what a small world it was – I mean, we hunted this gal's brother, those other two fellers were brothers…

Then I heard two familiar, and usually welcome, sounds:

The click of the safety bein' released on the shotgun

And the satisfying clack of the gun bein' shot.

(Author's Note)

Just to prevent any confusion, episode 16 (Shadow) is intentionally being skipped. Skipped, as in, no mention, no character tidbits, nothing. After all, Meg is still out there – so she's not talking. And the daevas (spelling?) were not extinguished completely by Sam's flare – they simply retreated to hunt another day.