The Skinwalker Hunter

Chapter 4 - Mia present day

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand trying to rid myself of the overwhelming tiredness I was feeling. I couldn't have gotten more than two hours of sleep with all the tossing and turning. There were too many things running through my mind and nothing had changed with the new day. I groaned loudly and thumped down the hall into the bathroom. Each step felt like so much effort I just wanted to head back to bed, pull the covers up over my head and stay there until this whole mess was over. Closing the door behind me, I latched the lock and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Ew, I look dreadful enough to scare a small child." I leaned closer to my reflection to assess the damage and poked the dark puffiness under my violet eyes. My usual long, straight, caramel blonde hair now resembled a messy birds best. "That's going to take a miracle to fix."

Dropping my bathrobe to the floor, I stepped into the shower letting the hot water work its magic.

"What's taking so long, Mia?" Grandma's voice snapped me out of the microsleep I was currently enjoying.

Ten minutes later, a half brushed, eventually given up on, messy bun, a set of fresh clothes, and the best make up miracle I could manage, I slumped into my seat as a continental breakfast was placed in front of me. I eyed Grandma suspiciously while she grabbed her plate and sat next to me.

"What," she asked innocently filling her fork with sausage, egg and bacon.

She knew exactly. This was the breakfast reserved for getting me to agree with whatever she wanted or breaking bad news. Cereals were the hurry up you'll be late breakfast choice and the continentals were always used as a sedative for emotional eruptions.

"You're buttering me up for something, Grandma," I sneered folding my arms in defiance.

"Don't be silly. I have all this food in the fridge that's going to go to waste," she said shovelling another full fork into her mouth, moaning at the taste. "Eat up, sweetie. Before it gets cold."

That sounds believable, I tried to convince myself, my resolve weakening with the aroma assaulting my senses. Satisfied, or simply too hungry to argue, that the sweet old lady wasn't trying to pull a fast one on me, I started shovelling bacon into my mouth.

"Mmmm," I groaned, loading up with more. "This is good."

"Mia, don't talk with your mouth full," she scolded, a sly smile crossing her features. "And hurry up, Evan will be here any minute. It's rude to keep him waiting."

Half chewed food spewed from my mouth spraying across the table. You sly old duck I thought, not daring to say that out loud. "Say, again."

"You heard me," she said delicately slicing into a tomato and layering It with some egg. "I have arranged to have Evan drive you to work to finalise everything before we leave."

"What do I need him for, I can do this myself."

"He needs to go with you." 

"Why does..." I started before snapping my mouth shut at the look Grandma was giving me. Growing up with this woman from such a young age told me my efforts would be fruitless. I lowered my eyes and dutifully finished off the last few morsels on my plate. Pushing my chair back from the table, I picked up my plate and washed it up before turning and leaning against the bench. I watched her layer her fork with food before delicately placing it in her mouth and chew. It made me smile at the memories of all the times she had tried to get me to eat like a lady. In vain to her dismay.

When she gently placed her knife and fork on the plate and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin, I scooped up the dishes and quickly washed them.

"Thank you, sweetie," she said as she left the table and picked up a letter sitting on the coffee table before handing it to me.

Turning the envelope over I read the name scrawled across the front. Paul Roberts. My boss. "What's this?"

"Your letter of resignation, Mia."

My shoulders dropped slightly. I'd spent half the night drawing up a letter myself. "I already have one."

"I know, sweetie," she rubbed my arm soothingly. "But I've had this one drawn up for a while now."

"How is that possible?" I furrowed my brows in confusion. How long did she have it for? How long had she known that they were going to move? The frustration must have been etched into my face because she squeezed my arms and kissed me on the forehead.

"This moment has been coming for a long time," she explained. "We've been lucky to have been able to stay here as long as we have."

"Why?" It was all I could manage to say. My heart was pounding and my breath was getting caught in my throat.

"Calm down, Mia," she said noticing my rising anxiety. "I will tell you what you need to know when you need to know. You're not ready."

"Ready for what?" this was getting ridiculous. I was nearly twenty-one and she was still treating me like a child. "Grandma, I need to know. I'm willing to quit my job and move to who knows where. I deserve to know."

She glared at me and I could feel my confidence waning. Then she sighed. "You do deserve an explanation, but it's a long story and I will tell you when we are safely away from here."

"Why aren't we safe?" 

"Something is looking for us." She turned her head towards the front door and I knew that was all I was going to get out of her for now. "Now go get your things. You need to leave."

I grabbed my bag and keys from the table, kissed her on the cheek and headed down the hallway. Something is looking for us, not someone. I hadn't missed that cryptic clue but I still had no idea what that something was. A million different scenarios ran through my mind, none of them making any sense to me. Grandma had gambling debts and a standover man was going to break her legs. 

"Nah," I shook my head and pulled the door shut behind me. She was a serial killer and the police had finally found out where she was. I fumbled with the key in the car door shaking my head as yet another absurd scenario filled my mind.

"Mia," a deep musical voice sounded behind me. I spun, dropping my bag and flinging my hands out in some ninja pose like in the movies. It was Evan. His arms raised in surrender and a look of amusement on his perfectly chiselled face. "I was thinking we would take my car."

"I was thinking of going alone," I turned my back on him and leaned down to pick up my bag. It was gone. I peered under the car and nothing. Straightening up in confusion I scanned the ground. Nothing.

"Looking for this?" Evan dangled my bag in front of me, a smirk taking over from his earlier amusement.

"How did you do that?" I snatched It out of his hand and glared at him.

"Easy, I bent down and picked it up."

"Great, everyone's a comedian," I grumbled turning back to open my door. It slammed shut with Evan's hand planted firmly in place. "Move!"

"We'll take my car," he insisted, not moving until he was sure I'd gotten the message.

"Fine." I shoved past him and stalked towards his stupid shiny Lexus. He chuckled, unlocking the door and holding it open for me. I slid into the seat, trailing my fingers down along the soft leather. The sides of it wrapped around me like a warm hug. He slid in beside me and pushed the start button. The engine roared to life and I felt the power push me back into my seat as he took off down the street. 

"You like it," he asked, noticing my wide-eyed expression at all the technology spanning the dashboard. There were buttons for everything, including the handbrake. Tilly still had her original cassette AM FM radio.

"If you like that sort of thing," I said. I may have been forced to go in his car but there was no way I was going to nice to this man. As far as I was concerned, it was all his fault we had to move. I tried to keep the scowl on my face, staring ahead but I really did like the car.

Before I knew it we were pulling into a car space in front of the gates to my work. My heart leapt into my throat. I was not a confrontation type of girl and the feeling in the pit of my stomach screamed out run away.

Evan opened my door for me and offered his hand to help me out of the car. I ignored him, struggling out of the seat and standing up next to him. He gestured for me to head to the entrance. I ignored him but headed that way anyway.

"Hey, Mia. What are you doing here so early?" 

I turned to see Abby walking towards us. Her gaze moved from me to Evan, back to me and back to Evan. She ran her tongue over her lips, straightened up pushing her chest out and fluttered her eyelashes. She was obviously impressed by what she saw. "I have to see Paul, do you know where he is?"

"He's at the lion enclosure with some guy. Something about fixing it so we don't get a repeat of yesterday." She ran her hand through her hair twirling it around her finger. "And who is this?"

"Evan," I replied, all niceties out the window. Abby was the biggest flirt I knew and there was no way I was hanging around to watch her in action. Evan ignored her completely lengthening his stride to keep pace with me.

"I'll see you later, Mia. It was nice to meet you, Evan." Her voice trailed away as we kept going. We made our way past the monkeys, giraffes and elephants before reaching the carnivores. All the animals were so noisy today, I wondered what had gotten into them. It wasn't until Brutus, the resident Bengal Tiger, roared that I realised it was us upsetting them. I stopped in my tracks and turned to glare at Evan.

"What are you doing to them?"

"Doing to what," he asked innocently.

I pointed at Baloo, the eight-foot grizzly bear, standing on his hind legs slashing out with his claws. I'd never seen him do that. "To them, the animals."

"Animals don't like me." 

I frowned. "They only act like that when challenged. What are you doing?"

"Nothing." He shrugged his shoulders. I wasn't getting anything out of him. Was this the day of unanswered questions, I sighed and stomped off.

Sampson roared in the distance and I spotted Paul standing a short distance away with a heavyset man clutching an iPad against his chest. I took in a deep breath and walked over to them.

"Excuse me, Paul," I interrupted smiling shyly at the stranger. "May I have a word?"

"What do you want, Mia." He scowled at me. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

I pushed the letter towards him and took a step back.

"What's this?" He ripped it open and read the letter. "Are you serious?"

He sounded pissed off and I cringed back. "Yes."

"Well, I don't accept it."

I blinked, stunned. This was not the reaction I was expecting. "But I have to."

"I don't care. I have enough on my plate right now without having to worry about training someone else." He swung his arm towards the lions nearly hitting the big guy across the face.

"Mr Roberts," Evan stepped forward. "You will accept Miss Sinclair's resignation and find another candidate to fill the position."

Paul turned to face Evan, puffing out his chest. "And who do you think...." His voice trailed off as his eyes met Evan's. He physically recoiled into himself at the sight of him.

"If there is nothing else you need to say, then we will be going." Evan was so strong and sure of himself, I wished I could be like that sometimes.

"No," Paul whimpered. "Goodbye, Mia."

"Thank you for everything, Mr Roberts," and with that, I turned to walk away. "I guess I'm unemployed now."

"There are plenty of other jobs out there."

"Not like that one," I sighed feeling a little lost. I had no job and no idea what lay ahead.