6 Chapter Six

After getting out of the car to get to the clearing a few miles off, we were passing several warning signs that were meant to ward off intruders. The weird thing was that they were becoming less and less recognizable, the symbols that were clear on the road were completely different from the ones we were seeing now. The white paint was replaced with a crimson red color, and the symbol much less familiar ones. They looked like something out of 'The Book of The Dead' but not quite egyption in manner.

Getting about a mile into the woods didn't seem like much trouble, but the thicker the trees got, the thicker the fog around us got. I hadn't really noticed it before, but now it was so thick, sticking my hand out in front of me was even hard to see.

"Amber, I can't see where we are going, can you thread with anything else around here?" I asked, trying really hard to focus on anything that was in front of me so I didn't run into a tree or anything.

Amber focused for a second, only to let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't feel any energy around, it's almost like the animals are making an effort not to come around me, all I can feel is their fear." she said, her tone sympathetic towards the animals.

"There has to be a way that we can see beyond these trees, we are basically walking around blind." I said taking a second to look around, and take in what little surroundings I could.

But because of the fog continuously getting thicker I grabbed on to Ambers arm just to make sure we didn't lose each other in it.

"Did you hear that?" Amber asked, her tone higher than a normal question.

I looked around, only seeing the clouds of fog, and hearing almost less than that. "What? I don't hear anything, I don't even hear any wind." I was confused by her question.

"You seriously don't hear that screaming?" she asked again, almost sounding panicked at this point.

I said, blindly looking around for the fourth time, "Amber I swear I don't hear anything, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly Amber's head jerked to the side as if she were startled by something, "Phenelope?" she said in almost a whisper.

"What?" I said equally confused.

She didn't answer me but kept her eyes fixated on the voice she was hearing.

And as we kept walking, the fog was getting thicker and thicker, feeling almost like a cold wet blanket covering the forest floor. As Amber was picking up the pace, it was getting harder to keep a hold of her arm, I was coming close to losing my grip when I spoke up, "Amber where are you going? I don't know what you're hearing but it's not Phenelope, we have to keep going this way." I said trying to tug her arm in the opposite direction

Even as I tugged on her arm, she was pulling further away from me, almost losing my grip. I tried one more time to bring her attention to me. "Come on Amber! We have to get out of here, there is something about this fog, we can't go looking for something that's not there." I said.

"Willow I hear her! I can't just leave her here. Phenelope!" Amber screamed, pulling away from me and taking off in a run into the thick fog ahead.

"Amber! Amber, where are you? Amber!" I yelled, but all I could hear was the sound of her footsteps receding into the distance. In her absence, the only thing that was left was the heavy silence lingering all around me.

I began looking around frantically, and with no other option, I started to walk. Not sure of what direction I was going, or where I should be going, I just reached out my hands, hoping that I would be able to feel anything before I ran face-first into it. At this point the fog was so thick the only thing I could do was stand in place and use every ounce of energy I had inside me, to try and call upon the winds from the sky above. Standing there trying even harder I began to feel fuzzy headed, almost making me fall straight to the ground.

Putting my hands up again I luckily felt the thick bark and trunk of a tree. Getting more dizzy by the second, I slid down the trunk of the tree carefully, now starting to feel nauseous and light-headed. Each breath I was taking in was making the trees spin faster and faster, now unable to keep my eyes open all I could think was 'this is it, this is how I die'. And during that thought everything faded into darkness, the last thought that went through my head was that I would never see Elie again.

*********************

"I'm getting sick of this." Jeremy said, opening up his flask of unmentionable liquid again and taking a swig. All I could do was roll my eyes at him, his immaturity was beginning to get frustrating. "I'm serious Nathan, they have had us on double duties for the past two weeks, I'm fried man." he said.

Jeremy and I had been assigned together at the technical college almost three states away from home for our first mission. And it wasn't that I didn't like the guy, he was a good soldier, but when it came to his mouth he was much better at shoving food in there than spewing words out. "We are only here for a couple more weeks man, just keep that drink handy and you'll be fine." I said looking up to the stars again, trying to tune out what Jeremy was saying.

"Yeah you say that, and what six months later we are still here with no clue who or what we are looking for. I don't and will never understand why in the hell the council keeps the targets a secret, why wouldn't just tell us what we are looking for so we can kill it and get out of here." I knew that he was on the way to start a whole argument about the species being nothing more than ruthless animals and should all be destroyed. After the first few days of knowing him years ago, I had to learn to just not listen or give him any energy. Now I just let him talk, he was a hard believer in the old ways and there wasn't any way to show him different.

I, on the other hand, have always had a problem with the way the council handles things within the underworld. I've always thought keeping the species separate didn't make any sense, there are so many ways in how we could all be a help to each other. That way of thinking always got me into trouble though, the old ways were rules that kept us hunters as a whole safe from the dangers of the other species. No intermingling with anything other than other hunters and humans. Even when it came to humans, most of the time having any kind of relationship with someone who wasn't in our world can be dangerous and is seriously looked down upon. After all, the bloodline is the most important to a hunter and his family. That and murder.

As Jeremy continued on talking to himself, I just leaned back in my chair and kept an eye on the house across the street. It was supposed to be the house that the witches were staying in, but we hadn't seen them there in almost three days. I wasn't sure why but deep down, that worried me a little more than I cared to admit. Not that I would ever tell anyone that I worried for a witch; not only wouldn't it make sense to anyone but it wasn't something I would even want to admit to myself.

Knowing that the witches didn't necessarily need a human education, it seemed odd that they would be at a human college in the first place. Yet seeing her in school the other day, just in passing I knew it seemed like something important.

The only real information that the council gave us before the mission was that the witches were dangerous and we were only to interfere if humans lives were in danger. I knew when I had come across her in the cafeteria a few days ago that what the council told us wasn't true. We were told that there were more than one in the school, but have yet to find or encounter the other witch.

"Okay seriously, are you listening, or did you turn into a brick wall all of the sudden?" Jeremy asked, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration.

"Yes Jer, I'm listening, look there is nothing we can do about the lack of information from the council. The only thing I'm worried about is how we are going to pay for dinner, Tony apparently didn't fill up the burner card again yet and you spent the last seventeen dollars we had on bullets for a gun you didn't bring." I said, trying to sound more passive than mad, because honestly I didn't care where he got his next meal, I knew I would be able to swing something if necessary.

"I told you I remember packing it, that's the only reason I bought the bullets, and if it had been up to me I would have stocked and loaded us up before we left." he said, taking another swig out of his flask.

"Fuck this." he said, "I'm going to bed, nothing is happening tonight, we have been sitting out here for hours." getting up from his chair he began walking to the front door of the house we were currently squatting in.

"Do what you want, lookout doesn't end for at least another hour, I'm sitting right here." I said leaning back in my chair once again looking to the stars. I could hear him leave in a huff, and I found myself thinking about the witch again. More than a passing thought, at this point she had almost become an obsession of mine in a way. To learn more about her, to actually meet her and talk to her.

Normally when I was studying bias history books from the Hunters library, the witches were said to be mean and hateful beings, not much less like a vampire. Though diving deeper into the history books that are forbidden to read, books from the Dark Ages, it was becoming more clear that the council is only telling us what they want to know, and teaching us to be murderers, rather than training us for the real dangers that are out there.

I had always known that the way the hunters handled things were far more brutal and far less tolerant. And even though I could see that what we were doing was wrong, there wasn't anything that I could do. I was born a servant to the hunters society, to protect humans and lifeguard the society, then one day my father will induct me into the council just like him, his father and forefathers.

Looking over to the witch's house once more before going in, I couldn't get her out of my head, I knew it was going to be a long night. My pants growing tighter by the second, shifting uncomfortably in my pants, the best thing I could do right now is take a cold shower and relieve myself before I burst just sitting here thinking about her.

Christ, I didn't even know the woman, never even spoken to her, and yet she was the only thing that I could think of now. All of this was spelling out trouble, I'm just hoping that we may not have to stay here much longer. If we stay for much longer I will worry for my own sanity. Because I think that if I were to see here again, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from trying to get to know her in some way.

Yes. An ice cold shower is exactly what I need right now

avataravatar
Next chapter