The Hunter

“They are an abomination against nature. They are crafted from witchcraft and dark arts. They kill everything in their path. We have a duty to protect those against the darkness. We are the hunters.” —Unknown I hear the beeping of my alarm going off pulling me out my restless sleep. “Shut that thing off.” My dad shouts from his bed. Another night in a grimy hotel room. I shut off the alarm and sit up in bed. I rub my eyes and stretch. The room is basic, two beds, a small bathroom, and a round table with chairs, currently covered in beer bottles, a few guns, and a stack of case files. Your basic roadside motel, clean but with a hint of cigarette smoke smell. There is a tv, but I doubt it works. I throw my legs over the edge of the bed and my feet land on the red carpet. My muscles are tight and my back is stiff. Last night’s hunt really did a number on me. I don’t know how my dad keeps up. I get out of bed and grab a fresh pair of jeans from my bag. I pull them on and head to the bathroom. I splash some cold water onto my face and look in the mirror. Man, I look like hell. I grab a fresh shirt from my bag. “I’m going to grab some food, want anything?” I ask my dad, who is still trying to sleep. “Yeah, some peace and quiet.” He says and rolls over in the bed. Charming as always. I grab my wallet, jacket, and keys and head out the door. I walk to my car. The cold air nips at my face and hands. I get in my car and quickly turn the key. I turn the heat on and wait a bit for my car to heat up. Once I feel the heat coming out of the vents I head for the diner down the road. Nice warm coffee sounds amazing right about now. I park the car in the diner parking lot, grab my headphones, and hurry inside. A bell rings when I open the door. “Have a seat anywhere hun, I’ll be right with you.” An older woman with a blonde ponytail and a midwestern accent says to me. She has a larger figure and a pretty face. She’s attractive. I nod and take a seat at one of the booths. There are four other people sitting in the diner. The waitress walks over to me with a coffee cup. “Coffee?” She asks and I nod and smile. “Any thing else I can get for you?” “If I could get some sausage, eggs and toast, that would be perfect.” I ask. “How would you like those eggs cooked hun?” “Fried on both sides with a runny yolk would be great. Thanks.” “Ok hun, my name is Ruth. If you need anything else just let me know.” “Thank you very much Ruth.” I take a sip of my coffee, it’s not bad for a diner, but I grab two packets of sugar to ease it’s acidity. Some of these places taste like an ashtray and I have to force it down. I pull out my head phones and tune into my police scanner. I listen to a few calls before my food arrives. I take my headphones out as Ruth approaches, plate in hand. “Here ya are hun. Let me freshen up your coffee too.” “Thank you Ruth.” I smile. She fills up my cup and heads back behind the counter. I notice one of the guys at the bar stools countertop glance back at me. I put my headphones back in and dig into my food. Food wasn’t too bad either. When I was done with my food, Ruth came back over. “Anything else I can get you hun?” “Can I get two coffees to go?” “Sure thing.” She pulls out her pad and writes on it. Then she tears out a piece and places it on the table. “Here’s your check hun. I’ll go get the coffees.” She walks back to the counter. Two more people come into the diner and take a seat at a booth on the other side of the room. I pick up my bill, she didn’t charge me for any coffee and just the meal, she also left me her number. Good to know even looking like hell I still got it. I smile and pull out some cash. She comes back with the coffees. “Here you are hun.” She smiles and winks at me before heading over to greet the newcomers. I leave the check and the cash in the table. I grab the coffees and head back to my car. I drive to the motel to see if my dad has decided to wake up yet. I walk back into the room and I hear the shower running and see my father’s bed empty. I take a seat at the round table and look through some case files. I hear the shower shut off and the curtain open. “I got you some coffee.” I shout out. My dad comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and drying his hair with another. “Thanks.” I hand him a cup. “Any calls this morning?” He asks. “None. It’s been quiet. I think we got them all.” I say sipping my coffee. “Or they’re laying low. We should do one more sweep before we go back to Jackson.” My father says as he picks out some clothes. “Alright. I’ll pack up.” “Cole.” My dad says. “You did good last night. You are really getting the hang of being a Hunter.” He says. My dad doesn’t often express pride. “Thanks dad. Helps to have a good teacher.” He grabs some clothes and heads back to the bathroom. I pack up the case files and file them in a bag. I pick up the hand gun, check to make sure it’s loaded and make sure the safety is on. I leave my father’s gun on the table, he doesn’t like anyone touching it. My dad comes out of the bathroom and takes his gun off the table and he packs up his things. “Ready?” He asks me. “All set. Let’s go check out the barn first.” I say. “Sounds good.” We head out of the room and load up our bags into the car. “You want to go check us out?” My dad asks. “Sure.” I head to the office. I open the door to an empty desk. “Hello?” I shout. A young girl comes out from the back. “Sorry about that. Checking out?” She asks. “Yes. Thank you.” I hand her the key to the room. “Would you like to use the card on file?” “Yes please.” She types something in the computer. “Alright, all set. I hope you enjoyed your stay and we see you again.” She smiles at me. I leave the office and my dad is waiting for me out front. I get in the car and we head to the barn. We drive for the next 20 minutes to the farm. We stop a little down the road from the barn so as to not give warning to anyone we might have accidentally left alive. I grab my weapon and make sure it’s fully loaded with an extra clip handy. We both get out of the car and walk quietly towards the barn. “I’ll go around the front. You take the back, incase someone tries to slip out.” My father says. We walk up to the side of the barn and break apart, my father towards the front, me to the back. I walk to the corner of the barn and peek around the corner. Nothing. I walk to the back of the barn towards the door. I know nothing will be coming out this door during the day, even with the cloudy sky, it’s too bright out here for those creatures. I get my hand on the door and take a deep breath. I jerk open the barn door and hold my gun in front of me for protection. But there’s nothing there. I slowly and quietly take a few steps inside. I check the left and the right, nothing. I see hay and empty stalls, but nothing else. I take a few more steps before I hear someone walking towards me. I huddle behind a stall door and wait for them to get closer. I hear their steps get closer and closer. I know they are close. I spring out holding my gun. “Boy have you lost your mind?” My father slaps my gun down. “Geez sorry. Did you find anything?” “No, I guess we did get them all.” My father says. “So, back to the guild?” I ask, excitedly. I love going back to the guild. I get to sleep in my own bed, eat real food, see someone other than my father. “Yeah I guess..” suddenly from the overhead loft, a body falls on top of my father, knocking my father to the ground. I jump back and watch the creature snap and claw at his face. I raise my gun and shoot it in the shoulder. It lets out a scream and reels up. “Shoot it again.” My father shouts. I shoot again. This time in it’s side. The creature jumps up and turns to me. I hold my gun up as the creature turns and runs towards the back door. My father gets up and grabs his gun. The creature runs out the back door. We both rush after it and watch as the creature’s skin starts to burn and he combusts into flames. He collapses to the ground in a ball of smoke and fire. “Are you ok?” I ask my father. “Yeah. Guess we didn’t get them all.” He says. “We did now.” I correct. “Let’s call the cleaners and head back to the guild.” He says and claps his hand on my back before heading back to the car. My father pulls out his phone. “Hershel, we need a clean up at the Clarksville farm.” He says into the phone. “Alright. Thanks.” He hangs up as soon at we reach the car. We pause and I look at him with anticipation. “Let’s go to Jackson.” He says as he gets in the car. “Yes!” I say in excitement.