The Skinwalker Hunter

Chapter 7 - Evan

The crunch of gravel under the weight of the car's tyres was strangely louder than it should have been. Evan pulled the Lexus to a stop in line with the front door and switched off the engine.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Not even the mundane television chatter from Rosa's room at the back of the house could be heard. Evan had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that was all too familiar. 

He dashed to the front door at immoral speed pushing his way through and coming to a stop in the entryway. Scanning the room, there seemed to be nothing out of place so he continued through the house towards Rosa's room.

"Rosa," he said, before opening her door and peering in. It was empty. He furrowed his brow, perplexed to her whereabouts. It was still daylight, she couldn't have gone outside.

Heading towards the kitchen, he decided that a more thorough search was necessary. She has to be in the house. She wouldn't risk getting burnt unless it was essential. As expected, the kitchen was spotless. It's not like they ever used it. The dining table was the same, more of a prop than anything else. It was adorned with condiments and place settings ready for use that it would never get. Evan rushed to the table where a box sat, wrapped in brown paper. The neat writing was addressed to the property two doors down.

"Rosa," he called out, louder than should be necessary. That sinking feeling was turning to lead. "What have you done now?"

Raising his chin, Evan sniffed the air, tasting each scent at the back of his throat. He spun towards the fresh familiar scent coming from the back of the house. Dust motes floated through the air guided by an invisible force. He followed them with his eyes as they swirled with the current of the breeze circling in through the open door.

Anger and frustration coursed through him. How many times did they have to go through this? Rosa was his aunt for heaven sake. She was supposed to be the responsible mature example he should follow, not the woman-child with no concept of consequences.

Following the scent through the door to the wooded area behind the house, Evan growled at the parallel indentations in the dirt leading further into the woods. 

"Rosa Delano," he ground out menacingly. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing."

The tracks disappeared amongst the thick ground foliage. The scent grew stronger and now Evan could hear a clinking and scraping sound up further.

"Rosa, what are you doing?" He slowed his pace, listening as the frequency of the sounds increased. She was trying to hide it from him. As if it wasn't obvious what she had done. Evan scaled the trunk of a large grey gum, walking out across the thickest branch closest to the top. From this vantage point, he could see everything she was doing.

In a small clearing off to the right, Rosa furiously shovelled dirt off to the side. To her left lay the limp bloodied body of the dimwitted delivery boy, incapable of reading an address to save his life. And it would have. The hole was nearly five-foot deep. At the pace she was digging, she would be drenched with sweat if she was human.

Evan watched as she picked up the delivery boy by a leg and dropped him in the hole. He landed with an unceremonious thud and was quickly covered by the dirt Rosa was pushing into the hole.

With only a foot of dirt to go, Evan stepped off the branch landing expertly next to the grave. He crossed his arms across his chest and met his aunt's gaze as the last of the dirt was shovelled into

 the hole.

"Evan, my dear boy," she trilled musically. "I wasn't expecting you home."

"Obviously," he snarled, gesturing at the freshly filled grave. 

"It's not what it looks like," she lied.

"It looks like the delivery boy knocked on the wrong door and ended up being lunch," he started watching Rosa body language for the telltale signs that she knew she was caught out. "Drained and buried before the body had a chance to go cold."

"Alright," she grinned sheepishly her chin held close to her chest and her fingers reaching towards a strand of hair to twirl. "It's exactly how it looks."

"Why, Rosa? Why do you keep doing this?" He scowled down at her like a father chastising a naughty child. "There are only so many times you can have a momentary lapse in concentration before it becomes a personality trait."

"I swear I was trying to be good. I was heating a blood bag in the microwave when he knocked on the door." She picked up the shovel and headed back to the house, weaving in between the rays of sunlight breaking through the tree canopy. "He smelt so good I thought, why have leftovers when a fresh ready to go meal was knocking. It was like Uber Eats finally decided to cater to vampires."

Evan choked back a laugh. How could anyone argue with that logic? He composed himself as best as he could before turning to face her. "That's not the point. I have enough on my plate right now without worrying about innocent postal workers adding to the growing body count."

"If you'd already left like you said you were going to, you wouldn't have to worry." Rosa stopped at the treeline with one hundred metres of skin melting sunshine between her and the backdoor. Her brow creased with a concern she hadn't considered when she'd left. "Why didn't you go, anyway?"

As annoying and painful as Rosa could be, he loved his aunt more than anything. The painful regrowth of so many skin layers was too much for him to accept. At immortal speed, he crossed the distance, located what he was looking for and returned to her side. Opening the large umbrella he pulled Rosa closer and sprinted to the door. "The girl is being more difficult than expected. She has an inhuman attachment to her ancient car. I need you to drive my car."

"Of course I will, Evan." She ducked inside before him and headed to the table. "I can head out when the traffic is lighter and meet you there."

"I'll need you as back up, we'll leave after sunset." The wood groaned under the strain as Evan slid onto the kitchen benchtop and watched Rosa with curiosity. "What are you doing?"

"Opening my parcel," she grinned, ripping off the brown paper. 

"That's not your parcel," he accused watching the paper hit the floor and box now being shaken out onto the table.

"I can deliver it to the neighbours if you want me to,"  she teased, ripping this new box to shreds with the same childlike enthusiasm as a five-year-old on Christmas morning.

Evan shook his head at her offer and the exaggerated pout now planted on her face. "Since when do you need back up?"

"Hunter is closing in on the girl faster than anticipated. His scent has been stronger over the last few days than ever before." He rubbed the imaginary itch on his forehead in irritation, torn between his immortal life long desire and doing what was right. "I need to drive the dinosaur but if he makes his move, I won't be able to protect them both."

"Oh yay, I needed a new iPad." Her fingers moved in a blur over the screen as she set up, synced and personalised the delicate device. "So, you want me to follow behind?"

"Yes, I was thinking that you could take them to safety while I deal with Hunter." He knew he was getting closer to catching him and it was a struggle to not celebrate prematurely. He had been close to being face to face with Hunter only once before. He shook his head in regret as the memory surfaced to the front of his mind. Too focused on what he was going to do to Hunter, Evan missed the subtle signals that with hindsight now screamed out a warning of the inevitable.

"You can't change the past, Evan," she was by his side now looking deeply into his eyes with a knowing sincerity. He forced a smile, inwardly wishing he could change the past but knew she was right. "You've waited over one hundred and fifty years to get this close, Ev. Don't lose patience now that you're on the home straight."

"Thanks," he leaned down kissing the top of her head. She knew exactly when to flick child mode off and slide into a mature adult role. If only she used that mode more often. It would save more delivery drivers lives. "I need to get back to Ada, and the girl, it'll be dark in a couple of hours. Get there as soon as possible and we'll head off."

She nodded in agreeance and flitted back over to her new toy, child mode well and truly re-engaged. "These people are important to me, Rosa. Can I trust you not to treat them like delivery drivers?"

"Only if they hand over their devices without putting up a challenge," she teased flashing him one of her signature grins. "Kidding!"

Evan felt himself relax ever so slightly as he returned her smile, tossed her his keys and headed outside.