Run!! Or not

"Dad, someone's at the door," Riley said.

Nathan goes to get the door.

"Hey, Mikael! What brings you here today?" said Nathan, chuckling and embracing his old-time friend.

He ushers him in.

"It's been ages! We last heard from you six years ago when you and your wife were expecting your second baby.

Where's she? I suppose you've told her all about her uncle Jay." Said, Jay.

Nathan calls him by his last name, Mikael.

"Henry! Riley! Come say hi to uncle Mikael." Called Nathan.

Riley and Henry get to the sitting room to greet the guest as their dad requested.

"Whoa! She's grown so big. Look at those big blue eyes. She takes after you" said Jay, chuckling.

Both Riley and Henry leave the sitting room for the two old-time friends to catch up.

"You still work with THE AGENCY?" Nathan inquired.

"Yeah, I do. It's for the best. We're trying to make the world a safer place for us." Jay replied.

"What brings you to this gruesome part of the city? It's a long drive from where you reside."Nathan asked.

"Uhh well… I would have loved to say that I drove down to see an old friend but I came to do my job." Jay said.

"My source tells me that you are harboring a supernatural. A banshee at that, you know it'll fetch us a lot of money given their scarcity at the moment.

So you'd quietly hand it over, you know it's a crime to protect creatures like that. I'd let it slide for old time's sake if you cooperate." He added.

Mr Jay, a monster hunter was thrilled when Samantha called him earlier, informing him about a banshee she's come across.

Nathan is confused and is trying to process what's going on. He has no doubts that his wife informed him about Hilda.

"Shit! I shouldn't have told her anything. Now, what am I going to do?" He said to himself.

"Just tell me where it is, I'll get it and leave this place in no time," Jay said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I have no monster in my house. I used to be a monster hunter, why would I keep a supernatural in my home, exposing my children to danger?" Nathan said.

"She warned me about this. You've grown soft," said Jay in disappointment.

"Come in now!" Jay said, over the phone.

"What're you doing? Leave my house now!" Nathan said, fiercely, blocking him from taking any step further.

"I'm afraid that's too late, old friend," said Jay with a straight face, pushing Nathan aside.

Search the whole place and see if there's anything or anyone out of the ordinary." Jay added, instructing the soldiers he came with.

They started the search, tearing the whole place apart without any regard for the residents.

Nathan makes his way to his room in fury to confront his wife, he's sure that she's the one behind this.

"How could you! You didn't even tell me about this. I thought you loved her." Said Nathan to his wife.

"I did…I wasn't aware of the kind of monster you brought back home. I did the right thing, I'm trying to keep us safe. Can't you see she's a threat to our lives?" Samantha, trying to make him see things from her perspective.

"Why are you protecting her? Have forgotten how the vamps attacked and killed your dad? For all we know, she could be anything. Just let them do their job." She added.

Nathan was taken aback some years ago when he visited his dad in the hospital, Grimville hospital and found him dead in cold blood with deep wounds around his neck like something sharp pierced it.

He was a monster hunter at that time, where they specialized in chasing down monsters they called "supernaturals" so he knows a vampire's trail when he sees one.

After the vampires attacked his dad, every patient in the hospital became dinner for them.

Despite this gruesome memory he has and the vow he made to capture and execute every supernatural, he retired when he and his wife were expecting Riley.

He feared he had grown soft when he found Hilda in the woods, suspecting her to be supernatural. He clarified his suspicions when she woke up three days later completely healed of her deep wounds and instead of killing her on the spot or handing her over to THE AGENCY, he accepted her.

"Hilda, you need to leave here now! They are here," said Henry.

"What're you talking about? Who's here? How did you get in here? The door was locked." Hilda inquired

"I have the spare keys to every room in this house. That's not important right now. We need to get you out of here before they start searching here." Henry said, looking for a way to leave without going through the door.

"Henry, wait. I don't understand what's going on. Who is after me and why did your dad lock me in this room?" Hilda asked, trying to get wind of what was happening.

"The monster hunters, they're here." Henry said

This piece of information stirred Hilda's thoughts about what they'd do to her if they caught her.

She's immediately reminded of how they scouted for and captured her kind and other supernaturals back in the woods. Even her mother died during the attacks.

"Go through the window. I'll be on the lookout." Henry said to Hilda

"Thank you for being so kind to me, I'm grateful to your parents and little Riley too. For a moment, I felt like a part of something important. I'll repay your kindness someday. Hilda said, with tears dropping from her eyes, she leaned close to Henry and pressed her lips against his.

Henry was speechless, the moment was extremely breathtaking. Hilda soon separates her lips from his as she hears footsteps coming toward her room.

"I always wanted to know how that feels and that's a makeup for last time." Hilda said, blushing.

"You have to go now or they'll capture you," Henry said, alarmed.

Hilda, working by instincts closes her eyes, mumbles something and immediately, she turns into a bird and flies away.

Henry was shocked by what he had just witnessed. He stood by the window, staring blankly, the soldiers broke the door and stormed into the room.

They searched all over the place and when they found nothing, they went downstairs to report to Jay

"We found nothing of interest, Jay." Said one of the soldiers

Samantha who was seated on the couch was immediately alarmed!

"What do you mean by that? She lives here and stays in that room you just searched. I should have just handled this myself. You are all so incompetent!!" she yelled.

Nathan was still surprised by how his wife's attitude towards Hilda changed drastically.

"Henry!! Come here now!" Samantha yelled

"Yes mom, I'm here," Henry said smiling with skepticism that his mom must have figured out what he did but he tried to stay calm.

"What were you doing in Hilda's room earlier? I'm sure you had nothing to do with her escape." Samantha asked

"No mom, I was just looking around. I wanted to see if she was awake before the soldiers got there." Henry said, slowly and taking deep breaths in between his speech.

"Okay then, be sure to alert me if you see Hilda around here again." Samantha said and walked out.

Mr. Jameson wondered how Hilda managed to escape or maybe hide because it was impossible to jump down from the window. It's too high from the ground.

He decides to ask Henry, he may know something.

"Hey kiddo, come over here." Nathan called.

"You can talk to me, I mean no harm to Hilda. Do you have any idea how she escaped?" He asked

"Uhhh no," Henry said, avoiding his father's gaze.

"Henry….. I'm sure you know something. Come on, spill" Nathan said, with a soft and calm voice.

"You were a monster hunter and now, I don't know if I can trust you with this," Henry said, worried and sulking a bit.

"You can, son. I no longer work with them. You know that." Nathan said, assuring.

"She left through the window like a bird. I was startled and scared but -."

"A bird? A banshee can't do that." Nathan mumbled to himself

"Did she tell you anything?" Nathan asked Henry, hoping to get a clue on where she went

"No, she didn't. She just flew out the window." Henry said, dramatically.

Nathan was worried sick about Hilda.

"What if she gets hurt? What if Jay gets to her before I do? He'll surely kill her or do something really bad to her. I must find her."

Nathan didn't speak to his wife throughout his search for Hilda. He looked in places she visited while she was with them. The bakery, the hospital, the market, everywhere but Hilda wasn't there. He decides to go look for her in the woods, where he found her.

"What was that? How did I pull that off? What is wrong with me? Am I a witch? No no no this can't be." Hilda was worried and confused. She didn't know how she had the intuition to do what she did.

"Get me out of here, now" is what she said before turning into a bird right in Henry's presence and flying straight to the woods where she lived.

The place was scattered and deserted like no one had been there for ages. Some houses were burnt, and dead bodies of some vamps, shapeshifters, and banshees were left to rot on the ground. It was a death pool and not the most pleasant place for someone to be but that's where Hilda found herself and she had to live with it. The Jamesons didn't want her and she can't die either, although she has tried to several times. She just heals and wakes up, she's almost invincible or she just didn't know the right tool to use for her destruction.

"I wonder what Henry thinks of me now. He must have told the whole family about me, it's pointless to go back there to fix things. The Jamesons already sold me out to THE AGENCY, I'm screwed!" Hilda thought to herself with tears rolling down her cheeks.

She cries uncontrollably, she was miserable and alone.

She goes to her house where she lived before her mother died and was left with Gina, her mother's friend in the coven.

She looked around the place, it was dimly lit with the old furniture and big bed right in the centre of the room. She remembered how her mom would sing her lullabies to sleep, hold her in her warm embrace and fight for her which eventually led to her death.

Hilda hated to visit these sad memories but they just triggered themselves this time. Sometimes, she wonders why her dad hated them so much.

"I hope I meet him someday and maybe give him a piece of my mind." Hilda said to herself, crying.

She goes to her home and lays on the bed, trying to fall asleep to forget all the misfortunes surrounding her. She's back to her lonely and accursed life. The only people that made her life worth living turned their backs on her and tried to give her away to the monster hunters.

Hilda jerks up from the bed on hearing a loud sound unmistakably from a gun.

"Who could that be? No one else is here," Hilda thought to herself

She immediately takes a peek through the window and sees Jay with the witch that attacked her in her dream. She senses that something is not right and the witch must have traced her down there.

She goes through the back door and runs afar off into the deep parts of the woods for her life. She keeps running until she loses her breath and hides behind the famous giant oak tree

"I lost the connection." Said the witch when she couldn't keep up with Hilda's speed.

"We'll come back sometime soon, today's her lucky day," Jay said before turning back.