Hello and welcome to chapter 2.
Disclaimer: Supernatural and its corresponding characters do not belong to me.
hunt·er:
a person or animal that hunts
Eight or nine years later, she's on her own. For two years, she does her hunting solo, with intermittent regroupings with the others from her class. It's not so much attachment as it is for information; they still can't communicate efficiently enough with humans to glean leads from the normal population. It's a precarious and unstable source though. Their ruthless lifestyles have taken their toll. And she instinctively knows that, soon, this option will vanish. By now, she can count on one hand the amount of survivors from her class. Nearly thirty of their number has disappeared in the span of two years. Training was just training, after all; the real thing isn't something that anyone can actually prepare for. She's found out very quickly that a certain amount of luck and natural talent was essential to emerging from hunts alive. Scars crisscross her body, slightly raised areas of tissue cutting her skin into one big jigsaw puzzle, the results of the hundreds of time she'd felt the reaper's scythe brush against her soul. This is going to be the last meeting before what's left of her class will disperse completely to the winds.
There's a coven of around ten vampires moving south.
A town five miles north of here has a dark presence hovering around it, but so far, there have been no disturbances.
The sigils protecting the safe house in Sioux Falls have been destroyed. No one knows how or why.
It's always been like this. Short, clipped, and to the point. No pleasantries, no greetings, no message of luck or concern. There's no point wasting breath on unnecessary words; none of them care enough to inquire anything farther than information for their work. After just a couple minutes of talking and listening, she leaves. The four others meeting with her do not bring anything new to the table so she sees no point in staying. Although she stores and mentally files their words, none of it holds her interest enough for her to bother caring.
Barely an hour after she leaves her classmates for the last time, she's tracking again. It's not even for a particular target; she reverts to this behavior without thinking. Dark auras are magnified, trails become painfully obvious, abnormal sounds crackle against her ears; she can't ignore them without going insane. They've cultured her to be constantly vigilant, always searching. And they've done a good job; nothing escapes her notice anymore, which is exactly how she runs into this case in the first place. Whatever left the trail, it was probably extremely arrogant. It hadn't even tried to hide its presence. She can feel the darkness oozing out of its host long before her eyes pick out the small form in the half dark of twilight. The host is a child; predictable, really, children were the easiest to trick and take over. She's run across countless cases where the antagonist behind the scenes was tucked inside the body of a kid. It's standing over the slumped form of a woman, presumably the child's mother. She draws the trap first, a design the guardians have all but etched into her brain, before pulling the hood of her jacket up and approaching it. The thing tries to throw her off at first, making small sniffling noises and staring up at her with large puppy dog eyes, crying for her to help the woman. She dumps salt all over it.
Here is the rule, the guardians had said once, You will live and die by this rule. There is only the hunt and the kill, nothing else.
She's simply following a practical piece of advice.
The pained screaming that follows the salt rouses the female. At first, the woman looks disoriented, then her one good eye widens at her writhing child. Panicked looks flick from the shrieking kid to the hunter and she begs for the child's safety. The plea goes unheeded; fourteen years of training have done their work well, there's not even the smallest tinge of guilt as she hurls an iron knife at it. Of course it dodges, understanding now that its appearance would have no effect on her, and attacks, forgetting about the woman behind it. The thing is still clearly in pain and disoriented because it doesn't go straight to telekinesis. But it makes up for its mistake in a vicious follow up, one that has her slamming onto the ground. She's almost grateful for the physical pain; it's something to focus on other than the mother wailing. It's annoying and as a result, it's difficult to concentrate. And she does need to concentrate if she's going to finish this job as quickly as she intended.
It takes time; telekinesis is not something to be laughed at. She sustains more than a couple bruises, several deep lacerations, and probably some fractured ribs, but she's lured the thing slowly back into the shadowed trap she'd prepared earlier. Her instincts are correct again. It's arrogant; which frankly, makes it stupid. The more intelligent beings would have at least questioned why she wasn't making a huge effort in fighting back, but this one simply follows her retreat, keeping up the offense and grinning happily at the hisses of pain that slip her control. The moment it sets foot into the circle, she twists agilely in the air and lands lightly on her feet, wincing at the sharp pain lancing her ribs. It looks confused at this action, then angry as it tries to get out of the trap. She's ready for this and flicks out a handful of salt with nearly inhuman speed and accuracy. The small form crumples to the ground, thrashing in the circle and screaming; somewhere in the background, she can hear the mother screaming insults and threats furiously at her. Her mind is too preoccupied with exorcising the creature to even process the words. It leaves with a last shriek, leaving the child eerily still.
Following protocol, she tests the slim neck for a pulse and finds none. It looks like whatever had happened during the possession had left the body unable to cope with the consequences. She uses what's left of the salt on the child and is about to burn the body when the woman interrupts, snatching up the child and crying for him to wake up. When he doesn't respond, the woman's attention turns to her and she feels sharp nails rake down her arm, clawing at her jacket with a desperation she usually only attributed to insane cats. Well, she supposes that this hunt went too easily. The fury is making her attacker's eyes dilate and, coupled with the injuries twisting the face, creates an image that should be terrifying. But this is just making her waste more time, and goodness knew she's spent enough time here already. The trap should have been drawn closer to the battlefield. Efficiency was a big part of being a good hunter, and that step of her plan was hardly efficient enough to meet the guardians' standards. The mother's shaking her now, screaming something about how she was going to call the nearest police station and report the murder of her child and goodness, no punishment was too harsh for this killer that doesn't even appear sorry for the despicable act committed. Her response is an exasperated sigh, before she strikes the soft flesh right behind the ear, seeking and finding the pressure point hidden there. The female folds against her, slumping to the ground in a boneless heap and she drags the pliant body a few feet away.
As soon as she's satisfied with the flames, she turns to carve some protective sigils over the woman's head. There's no need for another supernatural occurrence to happen because she was sloppy and left a wide open opportunity for the creature to come back. The guardians have taught them about this too.
Humans are driven by emotions. It makes them hysterical and incredibly difficult to reason with. You will need to deal with cases involving tears and threats accordingly. Make it as brief as you can and see to it that they don't become another problem that needs to be eradicated.
One hand pushes back the hood shadowing half her face and she leaves the clearing, senses already reverting to their previous job of tracking.
Reviews? Advice? Goodness knows that latter would be appreciated although the former would be nice as well. :)