A/N: Nobody's really reading this story but if you are then I'll explain this chapter! Basically this is an AU where everyone in the school is some kind of monster. This chapter turned out to be 100% OC-Centric. I would love to put this story on Fictionpress but there still are canon characters in it so it has to be here. Anyways, enjoy, and if you like it, review!

Chapter Two: This is Halloween

A young boy runs down the sidewalk, looking back behind his shoulder as he runs, making sure that his siblings are still with him and holding their hands tightly so that he doesn't lose them to the threat that is chasing them, lingering not far away from them.

He runs, his four-year-old sister behind and his tiny little two-year-old brother stumbling along behind them, looking back and trying to figure out what they might be running from. The boy never wants him to find out.

He reaches a dead end back in an alleyway, keeping his younger siblings close behind him, hissing out a swear word so quietly neither of them could hear him.

This kind of thing wasn't new to the boy. He was homeless, and didn't have parents to protect him. After his mother died and his father left, the boy had to try to fend for and protect his siblings. Around this time of year, though, he had to learn to fight off monsters with nothing but his bare hands. He had no other choice, really. His siblings need him to fight for them and he was more than willing to do so.

He gets a plank of wood that was around the alley as he hears the howls of the werewolves that had begun to chase them. He grits his teeth and prepares to fight, protecting his siblings above all. The beasts came, almost fully in wolf form. The leader of the pack, the alpha, looked at him with malicious red eyes, speckled with a very bright blue. He didn't know her at all, and didn't want to.

The wolves attacked, and he attacked back.

He fought hard and valiantly, staying protectively in front of his little brother and sister and bristling in a way that was just as frightening as the alpha herself. They tried to scratch and bite him, but this wasn't the boy's first time fighting these monsters.

His little brother watches with wide eyes as he fights off the werewolves. There are so many of them, but somehow the single human is able to hold his ground. Soon, though, the fight becomes dire. The boy knows he's losing and has to escape. He fights with one hand as he hefts his little brother on his shoulders and scoops up his little sister. On his way out, he strains with effort, not stopping for anything, until he reaches the sidewalk and the wolves suddenly stop.

He hears a piercing scream and turns to see his little sister being carried by the scruff of her neck by the alpha's teeth.

"Help!" she screeches, screaming her brothers' names.

"She'll make a lovely addition to the pack," the alpha says, her eyes piercing into the boy's very soul.

"Put her down," he says, growling so threateningly some of the wolves draw back.

"I hate to tell you this," but by her tone the boy could tell that she didn't hate it at all, "But you're too late."

"Help!" the two year old cried. The boy didn't take long to decide to attack the beasts, but soon realized it was too late as he watched the alpha of the pack walk away with his little sister held captive.

He had heard stories, when he was held captive by a vampire named Tom, about how monsters will always find their families again, no matter how young, but he was still worried.

He walked back to the small shack in which he took refuge with his siblings, defeated.

He heard howls, held his sniffling, teary-eyed brother close to his chest, and vowed that someday, when he was stronger, he would have revenge on the creatures that took his sister from him.

~.~.

He holds his little brother by the shoulders.

"Don't worry, Gaylen. You'll be fine," he promises. "I have to go for my classes, but you'll be in good hands."

"I dunno Dawson…" the freshman bit his lip, his messy dark hair sticking up so much you'd think he was just attacked.

Dawson attaches a medal to Gaylen's shirt. "Here. This will protect you. Any monster that sees this will be running for the hills before you can say 'spooky scary skeletons!'"

"Easy for you to say," Gaylen sighs.

"Take this. You might need it if anyone's brave enough to face you with that medal." Dawson hands his little brother a weapon, a small cylinder that turns into a dangerously sharp dagger at just the touch of a button.

Gaylen has to scoff a little bit. Brave enough to face me. I'm just about as brave as the cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz.

"I'm easy bait, though. The monsters like younger ones, so they can start training earlier."

"How do you know that?"

"You said it when you were recounting what happened to Sadie. Five years and two days ago, if memory serves me right."

"Genius brother. Right."

"The fact still stands that at the moment I'm close to two years younger than your normal freshman. They're going to be after me. What if they take the medal as an invitation to spite you?"

"Then they know that if you're touched they'll be dead by sunrise."

"Okay…" he says quietly.

"And if you see your sister…" Dawson bites his lip.

"I couldn't hurt Sadie," he says.

"You have to prevent her from hurting you."

"I'll… Try." I'm not brave enough for this.

"I have to go now. I believe in you."

And so the greatest Monster Hunter that ever fought walks out the door, his little brother watching him in awe. Of course it's easy for him, Gaylen thinks disdainfully, He's arguably the strongest monster hunter that ever lived, he bleeds courage.

There is another school in the district, not too far away from Panem High, and it's called Liberty High. Though the students that go there are usually pretty poor, around October Liberty High raises tough and universally-feared monster hunters. Their goal is to eliminate the threat of malicious monsters in the area.

Each year, their advisor, Vice Principal Icaria, appoints a senior to be the Commander of the Hunt. Dawson attended Liberty, and learned how to hunt monsters with the most high-tech weapons he could have. He became fearsome and vicious, and he could outhunt most everyone on the squad when he was a sophomore. It's no wonder he was appointed the Commander position when he was a senior. His raid of Panem was strategic and one of the most efficient raids Liberty's ever seen. Even to this day he's the most heavily-medaled and revered monster hunter Liberty High's had in a long while.

Gaylen attends Panem High, which is infested with monsters, and isn't sure how he's going to make it through the day. He takes the bus and wants to shrink away and not go to school at all, if only that was possible…

The little freshman pushes his backpack up his shoulders, jumping as he hears a howl. He entered, staring at the ground, trying not to look up at any of the Panemite students. He knows he would never live up to the legacy of his older brother.

Gaylen Fowler walks quietly, trying to not draw attention to his all-too-human scent and all-too-human brown eyes.

"Good morning Freshy!" Gaylen screams just a bit.

"Relax, I'm a ghost. I can't even touch you." Skeeter smiles kindly, but Gaylen shrinks away.

"How long? Do most humans make it?" the younger-than-usual freshman swallows hard.

Skeeter sighs quietly, trying to pat his shoulder but forgetting that he can't actually touch humans.

Oh yeah. That's why Rue killed me, after all. His sophomore year, Skeeter was a mummy, killed by the already-ghostly Rue so that she'd have somebody to be ghostly with her.

Even though he's been a ghost for essentially two Halloweens now, things like walking through walls are still pretty new to Skeeter.

"I don't want to be bit…" Gaylen says, whimpering a bit out of fear.

Skeeter smiles. "Then you'll just start magic classes. And you can be a witch or a wizard. They'll just have to turn you like that."

No, that doesn't sound much better…

"Oh, and nice medal," Skeeter comments.

Gaylen's heart sinks. "You're not freaked out?"

"Nah, I'm okay. Ghosts and hunters have somewhat of a truce at the moment. After all, ghosts can't do much to hurt or convert humans, so they usually leave us alone. Hunters are only out to eliminate the bloodthirsty monsters, not the okay ones."

Gaylen sighs a bit. "Oh. That makes sense."

"I have to go, but good luck today. I wish you the best." Skeeter floats off and Gaylen takes a deep breath. I can do this. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm a coward.

With that thought, he walks off to his first period class.

~.~.

A woman's high heels click on the tile floor, but no other sound is made by the students that watch her. She pushes her glasses up her nose, eyeing up the students who watch her. They don't dare make a single sound.

"New recruits, step forward." Her voice is crisp and clear.

The group of sophomores steps forward, the juniors and seniors fondly recounting their initiation days.

"Take a knee," the Vice Principal tells them, and the sophomores obey.

"So, you survived your freshman training, and you would like to join the hunt."

The sophomores nod their heads with an appropriate "Yes ma'am."

"Very well. Artelind?" this year's Commander of the Hunt steps out from the group of juniors and seniors, her dark hair bouncing slightly in its usual ponytail. She has all of her gear on, medals included.

The Commander does not speak out loud. Artelind is mute, using a talking app on her smartphone to speak to the sophomores. "Your fellow soldiers and Commander welcome you, young hunters. We wish you success on your journey." Those who have never talked to her look surprised at hearing the deep voice, totally uncharacteristic and monotone.

The juniors and seniors echo their Commander, "We wish you the most honorable success."

Vice Principal Icaria speaks. "By joining this hunt, you make a binding vow to fight and even risk self-sacrifice. We are out to eliminate the monsters that target human. We band together to protect humans. No matter who they may be, do not be judgmental. No matter if they are from Liberty, Panem, or Capitol Academy. We are dedicated to the protection of humans and the extermination of dangerous monsters. We are protectors who make allies and friends and take care of them. Your only rule is to shoot, no matter who the dangerous monster is. You must always shoot. Failure to do so makes you a disgrace to this organization. Do you understand the expectations of you in your service?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Rise." The sophomores obey, going up to their feet.

"Welcome to the hunt, cadets. We wish you all the best." The juniors and seniors applaud their new recruits. Artelind shakes each of their hands and pins their first medals to their jackets.

"Commander Artelind, they're yours."

The girl nods and types. "Let's go to the draft room to make our first plan of attack."

~.~.

She went into the woods alone. Yeah, yeah, she knew it was a bad idea, but she had weapons and she was deadly with them so what's the big deal, right?

She almost asked some of her friends to come with her, but decided against it. If she were to put them in danger she never would've forgiven herself.

But she knew that something had been lurking in the woods next to her house, and that year she was determined to find out what it was, and kill it the next day if possible.

The wind blew gently, eerily almost, swaying her ponytail in the wind. Her footsteps were silent. She was very good at sneaking up on people, even though a lot of the time it wasn't really her intention.

She kept on walking, watching out for anything that might be out of the ordinary. She heard a twig snap and quickly took cover, surveying her opponent.

And what she saw was truly frightening. A werewolf, in its full wolf form, with dark ginger hair and red eyes speckled with a piercing, cold blue.

Her heart stopped in her chest. She should've known he was a monster, she should've known it! She didn't put together that the boy she'd been talking to for almost a year now went to Panem… Oh God, she didn't know.

It was too late for her to do anything now but try to believe it wasn't him. There are plenty of guys with darkish hair and blue eyes around…

It didn't take long for him to pick up her scent, but Artelind was ready to face him. She quickly and stealthily pulled out her bow, stringing a silver arrow that glistened threateningly in the moonlight. He knew damn well what it was, but he only hesitated a bit. She let the arrow go and hit his right claw as it was trying to make contact with her face. She strung another arrow as the wolf became smart and went into retreat. Her second arrow narrowly missed, but it was intentional.

Hopefully he'll stop bothering my neck of the woods now, she thought. I mean, I'm still not really sure it's him…

That day in school, though, she became sure it was him. He greeted her with a smile and waved with his left hand, the right tied up gingerly in a bandage.

They had each other all figured out. He knew that she would be the Commander of the Hunt, and she knew he would be the Alpha of the werewolves. They knew they would meet again, and be forced to fight. They both tried to ignore the fact and carry on as normal.

"Hi," the monotone voice said.

"Hi," Edward O'Callaghan mumbled.

"What happened to your hand? Are you alright?" She tried not to look like she already knew.

He eyed her wearily. "Burnt myself, yes I did. On the stove. Wasn't watching."

"Interesting." They both knew the truth.

"Forgot to shave?" she remarked. He really was hairy. Well, harrier than usual, that is.

"Had a bit of a long morning," he says, shifting from side to side.

"A-H." The machine didn't understand how to say the word. "I see. Must have been one howl of a morning." He jumped a little bit. "H-E-L-L, sorry, Autocorrect. D-A-M-N, this machine won't swear."

It wasn't autocorrect and they both knew it.