Hunter's Curse (3 page)

Agent Rebecca’s dead eyes burn into me and I shift my gaze away to blood splatter on the ground near the other body. “What did this?”

My mom lifts and drops her shoulders. “Something powerful. There are no signs of physical trauma at all.”

I frown. “What about the blood?”

“Doesn’t belong to either Agent Rebecca or Agent Kenneth.”

A door slams and I look over my shoulder as Dr. Cole, a woman my mom’s age with long, dark brown hair with gray streaks, adjusts a lap top in her arms. “The camera didn’t get much because it shifted during the impact, but watch this, Dr. Sullivan.”

My mom drops the sheet and I follow on her heels as she saunters to Dr. Cole. I peer over my mom’s shoulder at the screen and watch as the video shakes as it films the roof of a black car and the sliver of sky above it. Nothing happens and I wonder if I’m just not seeing what they’re seeing, but then I see the top of Agent Kenneth’s head pop into view. He waves his knife out and then ducks out of view. Suddenly, a girl with wild, dark curls rushes in his direction. She yanks him back into view and wraps her fingers around Agent Kenneth’s neck, but doesn’t do anything I can see that would kill him.

“What’s she doing?” I ask.

“Shhh, Hunter,” my mom says.

The girl pulls her hands away and Agent Kenneth collapses. My mouth falls open and I glance from my mom to Dr. Cole and study their serious expressions.

A million questions whirl through my mind. What kind of creature can kill someone from just touching them? What a horrible abomination. The girl looked so innocent and young, but her power—I shudder thinking about how easily she killed Agent Rebecca and Agent Kenneth. She probably murders people all the time. She’s the worst monster I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Dr. Cole shuts the lap top after the video cuts off. “She can’t be far from here.”

My mom puts her hands on her hips. “Track the license plate and put out a warning to all the agents to not let this super touch them. I want her tranquilized and transported to the termination facility. I want her alive.”

“As soon as we find her, I’ll let you know.”

My mom nods. “Good. I’ll be waiting.”

JACQUELINE

I bang on the door of a blue painted, two-story house. The sun set minutes ago and nightfall will be here shortly. Tears burn my eyes and I rest my hands on the cool wood and wait. The outside light flicks on, but no one opens the door.

I pound my fists again. “Please, you have to open the door. Please, Dominic said we’d find refuge here.”

The lock clicks and the door swings open. A woman with waist-length, black hair and startling blue eyes looks me up and down before crossing her arms. She glances over my shoulder at the Mustang idling at the curb.

“What happened?” she asks without moving from the doorway.

I close my eye as tears blur my vision. I suck in a breath. “Dom—” I point to the car as sobs rake my chest.

The woman rushes past me and I drop to the ground and pull my knees to my chest. I can’t go on like this. It’s all my fault my brother’s dead. I should’ve just stayed behind and let the agents take me. I should’ve resisted the urge to save that woman from herself. If I had, I wouldn’t be in this mess. Dominic wouldn’t be dead. After today, I don’t think I’ll ever redeem another soul again.
You can’t save them all anyway. People need to save themselves.

I push the thought from my mind when I watch the enchantress tug my brother’s dead body from the backseat of the Mustang. For being only an inch over five feet, she has amazing strength.

“Jacqueline,” the enchantress says. “I know you’re grieving and in shock, but I need you to help me with Dominic. We can’t leave him in the car.”

I push to my feet and walk to the enchantress. With a heavy heart, I help carry my brother by his shoulders into the cluttered house. The woman yanks a throw blanket from her couch and sprawls it across her tan tiled floor. We gently lay Dominic on the blanket and I rest my head on his chest for a moment before wiping the tears from my eyes.

“It was the HPA,” I say. “I didn’t think they were real. I thought my nana was only trying to scare me.”

The woman kneels next to me and wraps her arms over my shoulders. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry you lost your brother. He was a good friend of mine.”

“You knew him?”

She nods. “He was someone special to me as a teenager.”

My forehead crinkles and I lift my eyes to peer at the woman. She looked vaguely familiar, but I thought it was only because most enchantresses look alike with black hair and blue eyes. I study her narrow nose and full ruby lips. Her sharp cheekbones make her look more serious than sad, and her delicate jaw line twitches when she crinkles her nose.

“You’re Jazmin,” I say. “I remember you.”

Jazmin offers a small smile and touches my cheek. “You were so young.”

I shrug. “My brother loved you.”

She nods. “I loved him, too.”

My chest tightens and my eyes shift to Dominic’s body. What am I supposed to do without him? I wanted to learn to take care of myself, but not like this. I never wanted him to die. I wanted him to live a life free from the burden of having to watch out for me, and now he doesn’t get to live a life at all.

I puff air through my lips and open and close my mouth, but words are lost on me. I don’t know what to say.

Jazmin touches my shoulder. “I’ll make a few phone calls and take care of your brother’s body. I want you to rest.”

Tears blur my eyes. “I can’t stay here. I killed two agents. The HPA will come after me.”

Shadows cloud Jazmin’s eyes. “I’ll make arrangements for you as well. You can find refuge with the Creature Council. They’ll protect you.”

I shake my head. “Dominic’s been trying to get an appointment with the council for months. They won’t let someone like me in.”

Jazmin takes my hands in hers. “That’s why you lie. I’ll vouch for you.”

I sniffle. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive without him.”

She smiles. “Because surviving is the only option. You’re strong and smart and powerful. I know you’ll be okay in the end.”

5. TRULY ALONE

HUNTER

I prop my feet up on my mom’s desk and lace my fingers behind my head. She left me five hours ago to meet with the board and I’ve been stuck at the termination facility because I don’t want to miss out if they capture the monster from yesterday.

The phone on her desks rings and I pick it up. “Dr. Sullivan’s office.”

“Hey, Hunter, it’s Chris. Was wondering if you wanted to join me and a few other agents for a ride-along.” Agent Chris breathes into the phone. “I hear your mom’s been busy all night.”

I jump from the chair. “Sure, awesome. I’m dying of boredom. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

Agent Chris chuckles. “Actually, I was hoping you could prep a van and we could meet in thirty.”

“I can do that, too. See you out front in thirty.”

I hang up the phone and scribble a note for my mom even though she probably knew Agent Chris was going to ask me to tag along on for one of their patrols. Considering the fact he said there would be a few agents, I’m guessing this is more than the standard keeping our eyes open for supers. Maybe we’ll come across the soul snatcher.

I exit the office and stroll down the bright yellow hallway to the elevator. I hit the call button and step on when it opens, and then hit the button for the lobby. My mom’s office is on the top floor of the building, which is six levels, but only three are above ground.

The elevator door dings open and I step into the lobby. It’s quiet apart from Phillip tapping on his keyboard. He glances up and smiles before holding up a key ring with a set of keys on it for me. His phone rings and he answers it, and I grab the keys without saying anything.

I walk out of the building into warm morning sunlight, bringing my hand to my forehead to shade my eyes. The morning shift is well underway and most of the HPA vans are missing. I meander up to the one with the license plate that matches the number on the keychain and hop behind the wheel.

I drive the van around to the back of the building to the equipment center and park it in the empty spot near the door. I grab the checklist off the hook near the door and stroll to the back of the van and swing the doors open.

I cover my mouth, grimacing, as I jump back. “Are you kidding me?”

The cargo area with bench seats connected to opposite walls, facing each other, is a disaster—and it reeks of death. The metal floor is covered in an unknown liquid and smells like rot and something I can’t put my finger on. Crumpled near the divider to the cabin lies a slimy tarp and a pile of discarded gloves and masks. Agents are usually in charge of cleaning their own vans, but I guess Agent Chris is taking advantage of my internship.

I walk back to the building and put on gloves, a mask, and an apron before stretching the hose from the wall and pulling it toward the back of the van. I step inside and kick the tarp and trash out and then spray the floor clean. The water runs brown as it pours from the van and into the drainage grates.

After restocking the van with fresh supplies, I get behind the wheel and sit for a minute. I imagine what it would be like wearing an agent’s all black uniform, carrying a belt full of weapons, and how it would feel to do this every day for the rest of my life.

And I’m not sure I really want to do this. Maybe there’s another way for me to make the world safe.

There’s a tap on the window.

I turn to look at Agent Chris before rolling it down.

He rests his hands on the doorframe. “You all right, man? The others are waiting out front.”

I nod and slide over. “Yeah, I’m cool. Just thinking about my future.”

“It’s going to be awesome. I bet you’ll do big things—change the world.” Agent Chris gets behind the wheel and reverses.

I lean back in the seat. “I hope so.”

JACQUELINE

I sit behind the wheel of the Mustang and stare out over the small cemetery. I watch Jazmin pull away in her green Mini Cooper and I’m sure this is the last time I’ll ever see her. When I woke up this morning, she handed me a piece of paper with a few phone numbers I memorized, and then she had me follow her here.

Jazmin called in a few favors and used her ability to have Dominic buried here at sunrise in a small service with just me and her. I’m grateful that she used her influence to help me. As an enchantress, Jazmin’s power runs deep in her blood and she can manipulate and influence people to an extent. She can enchant them to stop doing a particular behavior like moving and talking, and can sway them to make a decision where they were previously uncertain, but she can’t force a person to do something they wouldn’t naturally do. Enchantresses are innately good and their powers work through good intention. Without a pure heart, an enchantress’ power weakens. I’m not sure why, but that’s what Dominic always told me.

A tear slips on my cheek, thinking about my brother. He’ll now rest in the Evergreen Lawns Cemetery far away from my grandmother’s resting place. I’m not sure I’ll ever come here again and the thought squeezes my chest, threatening to suffocate me.

I turn off the engine and get back out of the car. I can’t leave him yet. I’m not ready to say goodbye even though Jazmin warned me not to stay long. I’m supposed to ditch the Mustang at the train station and move on with my life, leaving everything that reminded me of Dominic behind.

I kneel down at Dominic’s fresh grave and cry into my hands. Sobs rake through me and I fall over and pull my knees to my chest. I’ve never felt so alone and confused in my life. Even with the plan Jazmin came up with, I still feel the heavy burden of navigating this dangerous world on my own. How am I supposed to get through this? What do I even have to live for? I’ve lost everything. I’m truly alone.

I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves on the trees. Maybe If I stay here long enough, I can just disappear.

HUNTER

“Got a call that a black Mustang with a damaged fender was heading south on Sycamore and turned into the cemetery.” Agent Janie says, peeking her head through the window in the divider between the cargo area and cabin. “Think it’s our super?”

“Guess we’ll find out. Buckle up.” Agent Chris accelerates and U-turns at a signal.

I shift in the front seat to look back at the two other agents, Rosaline and Rob, as they latch their seatbelts. Agent Janie touches my elbow and I stiffen my shoulders. I didn’t actually think we’d come across the super and now that there’s a possibility we might, I’m more nervous than I care to admit.

“You’re not to leave the car, Hunter. Understand?”

I meet her gaze. “Absolutely. I saw the video of what this monster can do.”

“Think you can identify her? We only have a blurry snapshot,” Agent Rosaline says from the cargo area.

I nod. “I think so. Just don’t let her touch you.”

“The memo was pretty clear about that,” Agent Chris says.

I tap my fingers on the dashboard. “Good. I hope you guys get her.”

6. DEAD BEFORE DARK

JACQUELINE

It takes everything in me, but I manage to pull myself together. My eyes feel heavy with unshed tears and I inhale a long breath to push all my grief and uncertainty away. I’ll never survive in this world on my own like this and I refuse to let Dominic’s death mean nothing. I’ll live for him, just like he’d want me to.