For those having just started reading, ignore everything that follows. If you happen to have had this story on alerts or read it when I was originally posting: okay so hi. I know I threw a bit of a temper tantrum and quit, but over the past two years (yikes) I've not been writing much on my own, which was the whole point of not writing fanfiction, so awhile back I started continuing this story whenever the need/mood struck.

So I took the advice of a very kind reviewer and finished the story. It's completely done. I wrote the last large chunk of chapters pretty much all at once, and I honestly had so much fun doing it that it reminded me why I fell in love with writing in the first place. I'm hoping now that I've completed this and it's off my conscience, I can find further inspiration in my own work.

Basically what I'm trying to say is have no fear this time around. There's no risk that I'll up and abandon the story again. If all else fails I'll just post all at once and be done. For now, I'll probably post on a regular or semi-regular schedule.

(p.s. apparently I didn't know how to use semi-colons when I was a freshman? I should go back and fix that, but I probably won't, so just know that I have since learned the proper use of a semi-colon and you will no longer have to read atrocious grammatical errors such as that)

Equinox

Chapter Thirteen

When I woke the next morning, I knew something was off. Then I realized it was because there was a face hovering over mine.

I launched into a sitting position and quickly coughed to cover the sharp squeak of surprise that managed to escape my throat. Angel immediately stepped back from my bed, smiling sheepishly. Her eyes remained locked with mine, betraying no other hint of embarrassment. I opened my mouth to inquire why, exactly, she had been watching me sleep in what -despite her cute looks may get her- was a very creepy way, she answered as if I had already spoken.

"Sorry. I just got here. Fang said to wait, but I came to wake you anyway. You said we would start training bright and early," she reminded me, rocking from her toes onto the balls of her feet and back again.

"Um," I mumbled unintelligibly, running a hand through my matted hair. A thick film still coated my tongue, and I swallowed to rid myself of the acrid taste. Shaking my head to further waken myself, I glanced at the clock, then immediately back at her. "It's six forty-five in the morning."

She raised an eyebrow, in form uncharacteristic with someone her age.

"When I said bright and early, I meant like … seven-thirty. Maybe later," I remarked, swinging my feet to the floor regardless of my words.

She tilted her head, staring at me coolly. "That's not early at all."

"How long have you guys been awake?" I asked, shuffling around my room. I threw a sports bra onto my bed, followed momentarily by a pair of shorts that I had dug from the bottom of a pile of clothes in the corner.

Angel followed my every move, smiling sweetly. "Only since five."

I nearly choked on my own spit. Five o'clock in the morning? I mean, I'd had my fair share of early mornings, and a god's plenty of late nights, but I didn't routinely wake up before the sun did. And I certainly never looked as chipper as she did on the rare occasion that it happened. These kids were weird.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Angel giggled. I looked up at her, my shoes hanging loosely from my fingers, and a wad of socks in the other hand. She seemed not to notice my inquisitive look, edging toward the door.

"I'll meet you with the others," she said with a grin. With a swirl of her golden locks, she slipped into the hallway and the door clicked shut behind her.

I shook my head while tugging my shirt off. After dressing, I yanked a comb through my hair, piled it into a ponytail, then brushed my teeth. For the first time in probably forever, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror before I left. As casually as my ego would allow, I smoothed the top of my hair so that any tiny bumps disappeared. I immediately felt stupid for the gesture. No one cared what I looked like, least of all me. Who was I trying to impress?

I tried to pretend Fang's face didn't pop to the forefront of my consciousness as soon as the thought crossed my mind.

-o-o-o-

When I got there, the gym was empty save for a few scattered hunters. John Abate was in the corner tipping back a water bottle, a woman was on a treadmill, and a married couple I recognized were chatting over a bench. I nodded a few hellos while steering through the equipment and nudged open the door that led into the arena.

There were multiple rooms that belonged in the training area, all of which were just below ground. The first I had come through was full of general machines you'd find in any fitness center. The arena was a huge obstacle course that could be outfitted with traps relating to particular paranormals. Unlike any other buildings of the CSM (pardoning general offices) the arena's roof extended in a dome above the surface of the earth. That's why I liked spending my training time here. For once, you could actually see the sun and sky.

I expected to find the flock here, but the warehouse sized room was uninhabited. Turning, I backtracked to the hall, and then through a different door.

The library was situated near the training facilities because (unfortunately) bookwork had as much to do with learning to hunt paranormals as being physically capable. As a child, I had spent copious amounts of time curled in one of the big, overstuffed chairs with my nose pressed in a book of mythology. Everything one needed to know about paranormal creatures was contained upon the shelves that ran the length of all four walls.

This is where I found the flock, grouped in chairs around an enthusiastic Gazzy. He was standing with arms flailing energetically as he spoke. I paused at the threshold to listen, smirking at the smug air of importance surrounding his very aura. The Gasman wasn't used to having seniority over anyone else, but now there were four new recruits to bestow his wisdom upon.

"-ell that depends on whether you've got a good witch or a bad witch on your hands. More accurately, a white witch or a black witch. White witches are usually cool. They only practice herbal and remedial magic, meaning they brew magic potions and stuff to heal sick people. Pretty much hippies. Black witches are a different story. You can always tell if someone's a black witch because regardless of how they look, they always smell really sweet. Sickly sweet. And I mean the scent will hit ya like a train. Next you look for the mark. Black witches basically sell their soul to the devil in order to practice black magic, which is the real powerful stuff. Therefore," Gazzy intoned with a stifling air of superiority, "they each bear a mark sort of signifying their contract. Usually its on their wrist, to signify their pulse."

He whirled, hopping over to the nearest shelf. With his tongue sticking from the corner of his mouth, he ran a finger over the spines of the books until he found the one he wanted. With an "aha!" he pulled it down and quickly flipped to a certain page. He showed the image printed there to the flock. Even Fang craned his neck to get a better look. It showed a pentagram with the image of a serpent coiled in the middle, seared as if with coal onto a pale arm.

"It'll look like this, although we've seen some variation. If the snake's eyes are red that means run like a bat outta' hell because you're going to need more than a bag of charms to stop this one from burning you at the stake instead," he warned, the seriousness etched around his eyes and the grim set of his lips almost making me burst into laughter. He was so darn cute.

After a moment of contemplative silence, Nudge burst in with what I guessed was another round of questions.

"What about little things? Like … paranormal creatures that we've heard or read about that aren't necessarily bad. I mean, the whole fairy thing is a whole new level of creepy and I never would have guessed they were so evil … or big," she tacked on as if an afterthought. "So what about, say, pixies?"

"Pixies? Psh. Pixies are nothing," Gazzy chortled, waving a hand.

I couldn't help it then. I laughed loudly. No one seemed startled at my presence, but they did turn to look at me now. I met Fang's gaze, and he raised a dark eyebrow. Then I turned my grin to Gazzy, whose eyes were beginning to narrow.

"Gazzy seems to be forgetting a certain incident that occurred a couple months ago," I remarked innocently, smile widening at his glare.

"What happened?" Iggy demanded, uselessly looking from where I was standing to Gazzy and back again. His lips pulled back in a devilish smile, and I could tell he sensed an embarrassing story coming along.

"Well, let me see. It was last spring. As I recall it, the Gasman snuck away from the patrol he was supposed to be observing and decided to do some recon of his own. Long story short, he ended up walking straight into a hive of pixies. He smashed one of their houses when he stepped on a fallen tree. As you can imagine, they were none to happy … and once you get a pixie mad, boy do they have a rotten little temper. They beat him up pretty good. He had welts all over the place for weeks," I informed them, chuckling at the memory. "So don't listen to him when he says 'pixies are nothing'. Even he can't handle a few yet."

I had drifted closer as I spoke, so I now stood behind Gazzy. He glared up at me, wrinkling his nose.

"You don't have to tell everyone that story, you know," he muttered sullenly.

"I do it to keep you humble," I said sweetly as I ruffled his hair. Then I addressed the rest of the group. "But that's enough story time. We've got work to do."

Fang came to his feet, and the others followed. "What sort of work?"

"Today I just want to assess your current abilities. There are a couple core features of being a hunter: knowledge, survival instinct, endurance, and general intuition. The most important thing right now will be the knowledge aspect. You'll need way more information than just Gazzy's crash course in Supernatural 101. But that'll be your homework. For the day I want to see where you are on the physical spectrum," I explained as I headed for the door. My ponytail swung in and out of my peripheral vision as I walked.

"I think you'll find that our survival instincts and endurance are up to speed," Fang replied, and I couldn't mistake the twinge of a smirk on his lips as he dropped into step beside me. "As for intuition, I can't say ours is quite attuned to the paranormal just yet."

Before I could respond, he dipped his head closer to mine. I had to fight a shiver as his mouth neared my ear. All the muscles in my body were locked tight as he whispered, "But you'll soon discover we're fast learners."

I nodded sharply, clearing my throat. At that, he emitted a sound that confused my senses. It was like a rumble deep from his chest that sort of made my head feel a little fuzzy. Then my twisted brain caught up to me and I realized he was laughing. At me. He was laughing at me. I swallowed a huff, shoving open the door to the stairwell with a little more force than necessary. It cracked back and would have hit the wall with a jarring slam had its structure not prevented any such movement. I trudged forward, and he fell back a step with a final chuckle at my expense. Nudge took his place, beaming with excitement and practically bouncing up the twisting stairway.

"Save your energy," I advised her as we reached the top.

One final door and then we were out into the open. To my right, the sparkling glass surface of the arena's dome glistened in the early morning sun. To my left, the beginning of a winding trail disappeared into the trees. The foliage still dripped with dew and a light spattering of snow, but the temperature was nearing the forties, so I wasn't worried about further precipitation.

I was just about to speak when the door wrenched open behind us. Dylan's blonde head appeared, followed by the rest of his athletically clad body. Apparently he would be joining us on our run. He didn't speak, but he offered everyone a smile.

"Three miles," I announced, motioning to the trail. "Follow the green flags. Anything else and you'll just be going further. Eventually you'll loop back around here. Push yourself, but don't kill yourself. I'm not expecting you to finish in record time, but finish. Got it?"

Various nods, of varying degrees of unease. After all, I was keeping the birdkids earthbound when apparently their favored mode of transportation was by wing.

Gazzy reached out, taking Iggy's hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I'll help you. I know the path pretty well."

Cue mushy breaking sentimental heart.

To avoid causing any embarrassment on either parties behalf, I, along with everyone else, pretended to ignore the transaction. Shaking my shoulders, I pushed the sleeve of my fitted half-zip up, revealing my watch. The timer was set, so all I had to do was press go.

We separated rather quickly. Iggy and Gazzy had to go at a more gradual pace as Gazzy guided Iggy over various natural obstacles. Then Angel dropped off, being that, though tall for her age, her legs just weren't long enough to keep up with our strides. Nudge fell to a similar fate, and soon it was only myself, Fang, and Dylan.

I couldn't possibly have predicted how awkward that would be.

At first I paid them no attention. My legs moved powerfully and I felt every footstep beat into the hard packed dirt. Gnarled roots and fallen limbs were so ingrained in my memory that I maneuvered around them on instinct. Beneath the cover of leaves, everything was cooler. The cold nipped at my nose, but I focused my attention on the area before me. My heart rate was speeding up, but I controlled my breaths and corrected my pace. Apparently, Dylan and Fang had a different method.

First it was Dylan. From the left, I saw him edge forward just a little, which was weird, because he usually matched my pace on runs like this. Then I realized that was because Fang had also begun to draw forward. Dylan's turquoise eyes met mine. They were hard with a grisly determination. He pumped his arms and broke ahead entirely. Next, I looked right, to Fang. Dylan was no longer paying attention, so he didn't see Fang rolling his eyes and sniggering. He shot me a sudden grin that nearly made me stumble. His teeth flashed, reflecting in his dark eyes. I gave him a wobbly smile in return, still shocked.

I had never seen him smile like that, and it kind of hurt my heart, which I begrudgingly admit even to myself.

Before I could fully process what was happening, the two of them had rounded a loop and disappeared into the trees ahead. I continued to run as normal, shaking my head. Boys.

I would have liked to jump-start this new cycle with a bang, but unfortunately not much else made proper sense with the story. Just know that there's plenty more action and drama in store.

Also please, I beseech you, review.