The Hunter

Chapter Nine

We meet up outside with the children we rescued. Most of them are crying but a few are holding it in. Including the girl who’s mother we met earlier.

“Alright kids listen up. We’re going to get you guys home, you’ll all be safe soon.” I say.

Dad calls up the local sherif, and an ambulance. We gets the kids all fixed up and then coordinate with the sherif to find where each of the kids live. We go to each house one at a time. My father and I knock on the door. We talk to the parents and ask to see their ‘child’. When we reveal the true child the changeling imposter panics and changes form. The parents’ trance seems to break upon seeing the eyes of their true child standing by the sheriff’s side.

While the child and mother share a tearful embrace, my father and I chase after the changeling. We herd them out of the house and aim the flamethrower, with one good pull of the trigger, the changelings disintegrate to dust.

We finish up the rest of the changelings by dawn. Then we return to our motel room. My side hurts and I’m starving. That job was pretty disturbing, but overall pretty simple in practice. With the rest of our time here in Cape May, checkout being tomorrow morning, I’m going to try and get to the bottom of why we were promoted so quickly.

“So why Silver rank? Is someone trying to get rid of us?” I ask my father.

“I asked around and no one had any real answers. But, we’ll know in time son. People’s intentions never stay hidden for long. I’ll go grab us some dinner. Don’t forget to clean the weapon.” My father grabs the keys and heads out. I pull out the flame thrower and get to work cleaning it. There’s not much to do. So I finish it quickly.

Now what? I think of things to do to kill some time before my father returns. I have been wanting to put a new edge on my knife.. I pull out my wet stone and get to work.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Making sure to sharpen from the base all the way to the tip. After all what’s a sharp knife with out a pointy tip?

My father comes back before I can finish. He got me a burger and fries. I don’t even hesitate. I drop the knife and dive mouth first into the bag of food.

My father chuckles as my eagerness, as he takes a seat across from me. He picks up my knife and looks it over. My cheeks are full of heavenly, burgery goodness. But I find my self anticipating my father’s verdict. He always said the sign of a true warrior was in the sharpness of his blade. My father grunts and nods his head.

Whew. I passed.

I continue stuffing my face while my dad finishes sharpening my knife. This is his way of telling me he loves me. After a few minutes he puts the razor sharp dagger back in it’s holster, and grabs his turkey sandwich from the bag. He takes a bite then looks at me. His face is more serious than usual. I swallow my bite to give my father my full attention, a feat that can’t be achieved with a mouth full of heaven in your cheek.

“Cole, I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to promise me something.” He pauses for a moment.

“I need you to be more cautious from now on. With what you tell people, with the people you trust, with the job in general, and with whatever it is we fight next.” He takes another bite of his sandwich.

“Yeah of course dad. Of course..”

“Promise me, even if something happens to me.”

“Dad?”

“Promise me son.”

“I promise.”

The rest of the night we’re quiet. He knows something and he’s not telling me. He’s always tried to protect me ever since mom passed. There’s no use in me trying to coax it out of him. My dad is like a stone when it comes to that stuff. I trust him to tell me when he thinks it’s best.

The next morning we pack up and begin the long drive back to Jackson. The cramped car and winding roads are taking their toll. I can’t wait to get out of this seat and stretch my legs.

The constant travel by car is probably the worst thing about my job. I suggested flying once, and my father lost his mind. He loves his car. Finally we pull up to my apartment.

“Cole. On our next mission, I want us to take our time with it. We should slow down, take a few days.” My father says. His face is serious, I hate this. I just wish he’d tell me.

“Ok sure dad.” I get out of the car with my bag. He drives away and I watch his car disappear down the road.

The next morning we arrive at the guild together.

“My two favorite boys. How was the hunt?” Patty asks. I hand her the paperwork and she looks it over.

“Changelings, woah. Good job you guys. See those promotions were definitely earned.” Patty smiles at us.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” A deep voice sounds behind us. I turn and see my brother Jax standing there. My father pulls him into a hug. Jax isn’t a hugging kind of guy, but he’ll spare his feelings to hug our father. I look him over, it’s been awhile since I saw him last, he looks more or less the same. He got badly cut on his forehead a few years back, and now has a scar over his left eyebrow. He has short blonde hair and to my surprise he’s Gold ranked. I didn’t know he was so highly ranked, He’s not that good of a hunter. Or maybe I’m just jealous.

“It’s good to see you Cole.” He says.

“You too Jax.” His real name is Jackson. Our parents named him after this city. I know, original, which is why he doesn’t go by it.

“What are you doing here son?” Our father asks.

“Just finished up a hunt and getting my next target. Same for you guys?” He asks.

“Yes. We encountered some changelings.” Our father says.

“Excellent. I just tracked down a lady in white.”

“Really? That’s incredible.” I blurt out before I can stop it. My brother gives me a half smile.

“Don’t worry, you aren’t that far behind me.” He says.

“We better go in and get our next assignment.” Our father practically pushes me towards the doorway. They call our names and we enter.

“Gentlemen, back so soon. See, promoting you was a great decision. Let’s see here. Changelings, how interesting. We don’t get those very often.”

“Thank you journeyman.” My father says.

“We have a new assignment for you both. We are giving it to you, because it will require many hands.” We are handed a folder. I sneak it open and see inside printed in big red letters ‘WEREWOLF’.

“Werewolves?” I say.

“Yes, we know they are practically extinct, but at least one has popped up. And where there is one, there are many. Those filthy pack animals. We need information before you start killing everything in sight. So please, get numbers before you begin the hunt. I truly believe there to be only a few werewolves still left out there, but be cautious.” The journeyman says.

“Thank you sir.” My father says bowing. I follow him out of the room. I’ve never seen a werewolf before. The guild has mostly wiped them all out.

“If there aren’t very many, why send us? How dangerous can a few wolves be?” I ask.

“Because they can be human whenever they need to be, they are hard to sniff out.”

“What do you know about werewolves?”

“It’s genetic, and it’s only males that can be wolves.”

“There are no female wolves?”

“I’ve only heard of two female wolves ever existing. They experienced severe trauma that triggered their shift, that was a long time ago.”

“Wow. How can you tell if someone is a werewolf?” I ask.

“Wolfsbane is always a good way. You can slip into a drink and see if they react to it.” He sure knows a lot about it.

“But we will spend the first few days doing some recon and gathering information. We’ll take it slow, there’s no rush.”

“Are the werewolves hurting anyone?” I ask.

“What do you mean? They are very dangerous.”

“I’m just making sure no one is in any immediate danger.” I explain.

“No, I think a few days should be fine, now you get home and pack. Head over to Remy’s, and call me when you’re ready to head out. I’ll come pick you up. We’re leaving tonight. It’s not a far trip and we should be able to make it in good time.” My father say.

Geez I don’t ever have time to unpack anymore. We used to take a week between jobs. Now it’s one after the other. But I don’t argue, I just keep pushing forward. I’m going to earn my silver ranking.