Chapter 1
I could hear their damn annoying howls from at least a half mile way. I quadruple-checked my pistol mags to make sure they housed silver bullets, checked my internal reserves, checked my sheathed silver daggers. Doubted I’d use them tonight. My silver sword could stay in the backseat this time. The heavy fucker would only slow me down.
I stepped out of my beat-up 2007 Ford Fusion and glared at the full moon. Can’t give a hunter a break, can you? I looked at the dark, carless interstate, illuminated by said moon. The night was windy, maybe a little chilly. Not unusual for an October in North Florida. I was about maybe ten or so miles outside the city limits of Gainesville.
I closed my eyes and listened for the howling again. It pierced the winds like a sharp knife. A second howl followed suit. Two of them and they were dead. I’d make sure of it. I locked my car and started into the woods, smirk on my face. God, I loved hunting. After I treaded about a few minutes into the woods, all sound seemed to stop, howling included.
“Damn,” I whispered. They could probably smell me from afar. In fact, they’re probably nearby. I needed to be sure. The obvious signs like pure silence (to where even insects shut up), strange noises, or even gut feelings are cool and all but not enough. Not for me anyway. I dug deep within myself using sheer will to touch something folklore often called magic. I call it essence. And no it’s not some bullshit Hollywood fly on brooms, yell fake Latin words, and fly on dragons shit. It’s a force, deep within oneself and if you’re born into the right family (genes are a bitch) then accessing it becomes possible. I let this force, the essence, encase itself around me. Then I searched for supernatural energies nearby. Think of thermal vision except you’re really not seeing the colors, just sensing, feeling their presences. They were approaching, fast too. I grinned.
“Come at me, motherfuckers,” I yelled with glee. Two huge figures appeared, their silhouettes lurching at me like lightning. My day-vision was turned on, allowing to me to see things in the area as clear as day at the cost of slowly eating away my reserves. The size of these things never ceased to amaze me. The werewolves were some big fuckers, probably over two hundred pounds. Maybe eight feet tall? They rocked grey fur, green eyes, and the trademark razor-sharp teeth. They were both human before the full moon. No, they were human before they contracted that virus. The wolf that bit, abandoned them to be rogues and caught my attention after killing someone. Can’t have that around my town.
My pistol was in my hand before I knew it and I just reacted.
I sidestepped both wolves, took aim, and planted a nice bullet up the ass of the closest bastard. It whined, snarled, and I found myself dodging snapping teeth and claws. I trained for this shit since I was little but even human speed had limits. So I also tapped into a tiny bit of essence for an incredible boost. The essence also conditioned my body so that moving at deadly speeds didn’t cause me to fall off balance or even tear into pieces. The wolves still wouldn’t let up after I dodged like ten of their killing attempts, laughing at them. I shot the other giant wolf in the ass, his whimper sending shimmers of joy into me. Now before you call PETA, my joy isn’t some psychotic rush, though it does give me a thrill, a high. I take pride in service justice to monsters like these that kill people. Simple as that. Kill someone on my turf, be damned prepared to suffer the consequences. An emphasis on suffer, depending on my mood. The wolves suddenly stopped attacking and dashed away. I laughed. Next phase of the hunt: the chase. I tapped into speed and bolted after the bastards. I let them get a little ahead, giving them a false sense of security. In fact, I slowed to a walk, glancing at my droid. Twenty minutes or so after midnight. Still enough time to play around before it was time to go back to the dorm to call it a night. Killing just a bit of time, I studied some wolf tracks on the dirt. Thank you, day-vision. Without this spectacular ability, hunting at night would suck. And against supernatural beings, I’d need all the power I could get. As I continued to examine the ground, scanning every spot within a six feet radius, I noticed something. There were three sets of tracks…Three? The third set was more defined, bigger, a little different. Oh shit. At that second, a massive paw smacked me in the head with enough force to the bash me at least a few feet forward. I hit the ground with a muted thud. A werewolf in a beast-man form walked toward me, teeth bared, eyes deadly.
“Well look at you, moving up in the world,” I said, shaking off the tiny spikes of pain as I stood. Beast-man werewolves were kind of rare. Think of humanoid wolves, standing on two feet, eight feet tall. He also rocked the grey fur.
The werewolf growled at me. I winked as I twirled my gun, imagining the silver bullet that would bring justice for the innocent person, the thing before me, killed. “Do you wish me to show you why I should be feared, wolf-man?” He or it lurched at me in response, swiping his deadly claws, combat speed more efficient than that of his four-legged counterparts. I dodged each strike, drew upon essence, and then delivered a power-infused roundhouse kick to his gut. To my surprise, the werewolf didn’t go down. He tackled me to the ground. We had a wrestling match, me avoiding teeth and claw while drawing up essence. The whole time, I hadn’t come even close to dropping my gun. It was still in my hand, ready to claim its first kill of the night. And that’s what I did. Pushed the muzzle of said weapon into the wolf’s chest and pulled the trigger. The silver bullet pretty much gave him an instant death as it passed through the wolf-man’s chest. I shoved the corpse off me, its blood staining my red shirt with an even darker read.
Two more to go. And with that head start, I’d get a thrill out of this hunt. Imagine that song, Bodies, by Drowning Pool, rocking in your head. Or maybe the song X Gone Give It to Ya by DMX. That’s what I felt like when I removed the lock that held my essence. Full motherfucking mystic mode. I blurred after the wolves, concentrating mainly on speed and agility. You may wonder how the fuck am I not running into anything while moving at a fraction of the speed of sound. As long as my body is burning essence, it sort of auto-adjusts itself, dodging any obstacle. Basically, I’m like a ninja. It obviously didn’t take long to catch up to the cowardly, smart, werewolves frantically running. I used the momentum that I built to tackle their asses to the ground, crunching at least a few bones or so. They whimpered as if begging for their lives. I sent two silver bullets, delivering an end to the murderous monsters.
You may think it seem ruthless but ending a rogue is more of a mercy. No good man or woman wants to live with just pure man-eating animal instinct. You kill people on my turf, you pay consequences. Easy as that.
I dragged ass to the car, a little tired but not because of this measly werewolf fight. A nice test awaited me in the morning. Lack of sleep would rape my grade. Sure, I could kick supernatural ass all day long but when it came down to college exams…. well, let’s just say it’s currently in the improvement department.
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