THE HUNTER'S VOW

CHAPTER 2: SAME TEAM

The nightmares started when I was four.

Her face. Me draining her dry while she whispered my name.

They stopped at seven. Came back at fifteen.

Movies lie. You don't get turned and live hundreds of years. You die.

What stands up is a husk. A copy that thinks it's you. And for 24 hours, you're still trapped inside it. Awake. Watching it wear your face. That's hell.

I thought that connection was cut when I died. Yesterday proved I was wrong. I felt him. My husk. People call them vampires. And now I know where he is. The question is — does he know where I am?

My phone rang. Cedric.

"You are needed back at HQ. We have a nest."

"I'm on solo hunt—"

"Past memories can wait. Get your ass here." Click.

Cedric hates that I remember my past life. Most people don't believe me. I've only been with the Order officially for 5 months, though I've been hunting with my teacher ever since I was 15. She always told me that experience and pain are the best teachers. She also taught me to travel light. Sword, backpack, map. The sword is masked by Order magic — people see what calms them. Usually a wooden blade.

I was about to start my bike when HQ texted:

[STRAY WEREWOLF AT YOUR LOCATION. TRUE ALPHA CLASS. CAPTURE. DO NOT KILL.]

"Damn. I hate werewolf hunts."

I pulled out the compass. Moonstone needle. It doesn't point north, it points to what bleeds wrong. So I'm told.

I followed the compass to a club.

Deja vu hit me hard at the bar when I saw a young man, slightly older than me, maybe 9 to 10 years older.

A man was already waiting, smiling at me, pushing a drink to me.

"On me."

I frowned. "Have we met before?"

"I don't know," he said. "Have we?"

I stared. Something about him wasn't human. Too still. Too hot.

"The name is Chris. Short for Christopher. I take it you are my ride to HQ?"

My hand froze on my sword. How did he know? I didn't even know he was the target.

He saw my confusion and tapped my back. His hand burned.

"Relax. We are on the same team. You smell like everyone from the Order — incense and self-righteousness. And I can see your sword. Your charms don't work on yours truly."

"I was told to capture you."

Christopher laughed. "Whatever beef you have with Cedric is a good one."

"How do you know about the Order?"

"Well, today you'll get your answer, newbie."

He showed me his Order crest. We each have a magical crest made of runes, drawn on our hands. It glows when certain commands are said out loud.

We rode to HQ. He rode behind me like he owned my bike.

Cedric was at the gate. He saw Chris and burst out laughing.

"Oh, you brought him in alive. Look at you, Eli."

Inside, the truth hit.

The Order was not what I thought. But I am an open-minded person. One thing you learn when you live on this side of the world — secrets are kept for a reason.

It was my first time at HQ. Normally I just get a text or request from my teacher. But I was told that once the vetting process was over, I'd be taken to HQ.

The courtyard was full of them. Werewolves. Witches. Mages with tattooed tongues.

They were sparring, laughing, some half-shifted, claws out. The air stank of wet dog, iron, and ozone. It made my skin crawl.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" Christopher whispered next to me, as if reading my mind. "You'll get used to it. Or you won't."

The leader was waiting. Old woman, eyes like moonstone. She was the only human besides me. Or she looked human.

"Eli," she said. "Do you know why your charm doesn't work on Christopher?"

I shook my head.

"Because he is a true werewolf. The charm don't work on supernatural beings."

And there it was. A realization. If it didn't work on supernatural beings, and it's also not working on me — what does that mean for me?

Cedric stepped forward. He wasn't laughing now.

"Eli, sit. Your master didn't tell you anything. Today I'll tell you what you have to know."

Christopher snorted.

The old woman raised a hand.

"Eli. You are not just a hunter. You have what we call the Factor. The werewolf factor."

There it was, something I dreaded. I frowned. "What?"

"When you were four years old, you were bitten."

My stomach dropped.

"By him," she pointed at Christopher. "While you were playing."

I looked at Christopher. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"It was an accident," he said quietly. "We were kids, and I just felt this strong fear when I looked at you."

"That's why you seemed familiar. So what?" I said. My voice was cold. I wondered why my teacher didn't tell me all of this. When I meet her, she is going to have a lot to explain.

"So you are one of us. Or you will be. Once you kill the vampire that killed you. That's the trigger for our kind. Mandy, Lucas, and you — you three can't transform because you haven't killed the vampire that killed you."

That explained the nightmares. That explained why I was four when they started. I had so many questions, but one thing I've learned is that people in power don't respond kindly to questions, so I'll find my answers my own way.

"So what, we are a pack now?" I asked. "I joined to kill vampires."

"And you will," the old woman said. "Starting now. Noon. We raid a nest. You are cold for this, Eli, but you are coming. You need to see how we work as team, as pack."

I didn't want to. Every part of me wanted to get on my bike and leave. Being cold to join the hunt is an understatement.

But orders are orders. And I needed answers.

The hunt team assembled in the yard. Six of us.

Lucas — tall, quiet, scars on his neck.

Christopher — smirking.

Marco — built like a tank, knuckles already cracking.

Mandy — red hair, eyes gold, knife spinning in her hand.

Linda — braids, calmest one here, but her claws were already out.

And me. Eli. The only one who calls them husks. The weirdo with past memories.

It was noon when we raided the nest. Underground, old service tunnels under the city. The smell hit first — rot, copper, cheap perfume covering death.

Christopher put a hand up. "Don't transform. Save it. This nest is weak." For some reason I was told he could tell how strong a vampire is by just a smell.

He was right. It was easy. Too easy.

Our blades glowed, runes lit.

Twelve vampires, hissing, eyes black. Marco broke the first one's neck before it could scream. Linda tore through two. Mandy moved like wind, decapitating two of them.

"I can't have the ladies show me off," said Christopher as he ripped out two hearts from two vampires who had just lunged at him.

"You—" said one of the vampires, its life fading away.

"Your friend or something?" asked Lucas as he stabbed one vampire in the chest.

I have to say this was peak. Teamwork seemed fine. I could let others show off, but with all that my teacher taught me — one vampire was mid-air, fangs out, hands ready to rip me apart.

"Too slow," I said as I sliced its head off, took my extra blade and threw it towards the other vampire that was going after Mandy as she was finishing her third kill. The blade struck its heart, killing it instantly. The rest is history. The ones left were dealt with quickly.

In 15 to 20 minutes, it was over.

We slaughtered the whole nest.

Then we heard it. Breathing.

In the back, behind a curtain of plastic.

Four girls alive. Tied. Drugged. Seventeen, maybe younger. And seven dead. Cold. Drained. Stacked like trash.

Mandy cursed and covered the alive ones with her jacket. Linda was shaking with rage.

I stared at the dead ones. The way their necks were torn.

And it happened again.

A flash. Not a nightmare. A glimpse. Through his eyes. My husk's eyes.

He was laughing. And behind him, a neon sign. A hotel name. Half-broken.

THE ROYAL CREST HOTEL.

I stumbled back and hit the tunnel wall.

Lucas was next to me in a second. He grabbed my arm.

"Hey. Hey, you ok?" he asked. Quiet voice. "You went white."

Christopher looked at me from across the tunnel, over the bodies. There was something about him that I couldn't put my finger on.