Hunters and Beasts

business as usual

 Faith walked back into the school and towards her forth period class. she got there a few minutes before the bell had rung and waited in the rear for everyone to arrive. fourth period was her JROTC class. from the outside i t looked normal enough, that is, unless you had the sight. there were some powerful glamor's in affect here. fourth period was reserved for the elite members of JROTC, or rather the hunters who were young enough to pass as high school students. somehow the hunters had managed to take over this program, to use for their own needs. faith walked to the front of the classroom of about twenty four. she eyed her squad on her way to the front. 

"alright teams. we are going to go outside and do some training on the obstacle courses." the teams grinned as they followed her out. they were next to the practice football field where the conditioning class was playing football. most of the conditioning class was on the football team. they walked to their obstacles. "so we are going to do team building, blind folded." the squad groaned softly. "im not looking for complaining." she barked the order. "pair up. one member will be blind folded, the other will help guide them trough the course. its about trusting the people around you."  her squad paired off and started to maneuver each other over and around the course. faith turned her head, looking at the football players near her. they were talking amungst themselves and pointing towards the obsticles. faith turned her attention back to the squad. she walked a few steps forward before seeing a football fly past her, cracking one of the squad in the face. the person fell off the beam she was trasversing and fell. luckily her partner had caught her before she hit the ground. faith watched the blood gush from her nose and she spun with fury in her eyes. the football players were laughing uncrontrolably as faith charged towards them. "do you think you are funny?" faith snarled 

"yeah actually i think i am." one of the boys replied cockily. 

"i think you are a prick, and id love to show you about yourself."

"shut up b***h, go back to playing army girl." faith had to hold herself back, she wanted to kill this boy.

"what the f**k is going on here." faith turned to see Caleb sprinting over. 

"nothing captain." the boy muttered.

"Brandon threw a ball at the cadets, it was supposed to be a joke."

"does that look like a harmless joke to you?" Caleb's eyes darkened. "laps, all of you." the boys all groaned but took off running across the field. "I'm sorry, faith." Caleb turned to her his features softening."

"i had it under control."

"i know." he nodded. "i wont let anything happen like that again, he will be dealt with, i assure you." Caleb ran off without another word.

Faith grabbed her duffle bag out of her seat and walked towards the office building. The building had dark tinted windows that were framed by chrome workings. It was only a few stories tall, but it was a nice building. It was almost out of place in this town. She nodded at the guards patrolling the parking lot as she swiped her badge to get into the building. The headquarters was a private security firm. She walked towards the elevator and waited until the door closed to press the panel that lead to the secret basement. The doors opened to a long dark hallway. The guards turned to her and nodded. She walked past the weapons room and war room and opened the door to the gym. She walked past the equipment and the ring and went to the locker room. Her squad was already present, changed and waiting on her command.

“Go stretch in the ring I will be out momentarily.”

“Yes Sergeant!” they shouted in unison and rushed from the room. She took off her jacket and hung it in a locker. She wore a black tank top that clung to her and black tactical pants that were loosely tucked into combat boots. She laced her boots and looked down into her bag where her array of weapons waited. She spun her ring on her right hand. No weapons today. She walked out to the ring where her squad waited. They were lined up, a man pacing in front of them.

“About time, sergeant.” She eyed her father as he paced. She glanced at her watch on the inside of her wrist 1630.

“Right on time, sir.” She saluted, hiding her disgust. He glanced at her, looking for a challenge. She stood like a statue, staring at his chin so she didn’t have to meet his eyes.

“On time can be considered late sergeant. Fall in.” she walked to the back of her squad watching her father through her people. “I have orders for your squad. There have been rumors of Vamps and Wolves both moving back into the area and killing civs. Sergeant will have details for you latter. Essentially you are to observe and report. You are not allowed to make contact unless immediately threatened or in danger. We are after the whole groups not just the runts and mishaps.” He looked to at faith. “Sergeant get them moving and find your updated file in the war room. Dismissed.” He left the ring.

“Alright pair off and get to work sparring. Tyler do observation.”  She had a squad of seven under her command. Tyler had known her since she had become a hunter, the rest of the squad had been around for a year or so. They worked well together but Faith didn’t know much about any of them, she didn’t care too. Faith stepped out of the ring and walked out of the gym. She walked past the guards and into the war room to retrieve her file. Her father sat at the head of the table, multiple hunters sat around him. She recognized the command unit but was surprised they were all there. They looked at her but no one acknowledged her. She grabbed a file with her name off the table and walked out. Something big must be going on. She walked back down the hall skimming the files as she went. The files weren't much, just basic sightings of both the wolves and vampires. Both of the major clans in the same area as this hunter's base? Not a coincidence. Faith eyed her squad as they practiced sparing. They were paired off by team.

“alright squad trade up. You know your partners you need to work against others. Tyler, lets go, you are with me.” The others traded partners on the mats around the main ring.

“So, what are we doing this time?” Tyler stretched while Faith put down her file. She wrapped her wrists and slid on some gloves.

“just normal stuff. Ill try not to go to hard.”

“yeah. Right.” They met in the middle of the ring.

“at least I'm wearing gloves this time.” She immediately came at him with a barrage of mid-section punches. He grunted when they contacted. He tried to block but he wasn’t getting anywhere. He came at her with a few kicks. She deflected them and caught him in the jaw.

“you don’t always have to take out your frustration with training you know.” Tyler said circling her.

“how else would I be fit to be the leader?” she said, ducking in for a kidney blow. He grunted.

“Are you fit to be the leader?”  Faiths eyes narrowed and she stepped back.

“what?” she said through clinched teeth. “are you questioning me?” Tyler stood.

“yes, yes I am.” Faith smirked and tackled Tyler to the ground, getting him in a headlock. He was gasping and kicking but could not get out of faith’s grip.

“when you magically become stronger than me, then and only then can you question my ability to lead.” Tyler tapped franticly for Faith to release him. She slowly let go and rolled away. Tyler Gasped on the floor, his face red. “alright guys patrol your regular areas and report. Do not take any steps to move on them. Tyler is on over watch. Is that clear?”

“yes Mam.”

“get your training session in and then move out.” Faith shouldered her jacket and grabbed her bag from the locker room. She left the building, not looking back.

Faith crept through the trees, avoiding stepping on as many branches as possible. She was patrolling a secluded spot in the woods. She had read the file from her father and sent her team out accordingly. The locals had reported many missing hunters as well as mauled livestock in the areas surrounding the forest. If there are monsters here this is where they will be. She had ordered her team to patrol the forest looking for signs of werewolves. She paused looking at the ground looking for tracks. She was alone, everyone else was in teams of two, with Tyler controlling communications from the van. Faith walked along the path the smell of something burning catching her nose. Campers maybe? Better check it out. Faith redirected her path and walked towards the smell of smoke. She shouldered her rifle and adjusted her gear vest. She hated wearing a vest and carrying modern weapons. She was in full gear; she had a helmet with lights, a rifle, a pistol dropped onto her thigh and a scarf covering her mouth and nose. She had a coms earpiece connected to her phone but had her own personal mic muted as she crept through the bushes.

“Squad one status?” came over her radio. She ignored the call out as she saw the light from a fire peeking through the tree line. “Squad one status!” the call out came with more urgency. Faith moved forward and looked on the scene. She saw five or so guys standing around the fire.

“I don’t understand his problem!” one the guys stomped around, kicking dirt.

“Easy dude. He’s the boss what he says goes.”

“Maybe. But not if we take him down.”

“you want to try to take out our leader, are you crazy?!?” Faith shifted on her feet. The guys stopped moving and looked around.

“i just think he's showing major weakness. We could run this town if we wanted too.”

“i think it's time we head home, it's dangerous in the woods tonight.”

“i think I'll stay and have some hunters for dinner.” he turned his head towards faith. “they are in the woods tonight.”

“Brandon, no that’s not a good idea.” Brandon. The jock from earlier. Oh, hell yes.

“I'm not scared of any hunters. They are just humans. Unlike us.” Brandon roared with laughter as he transformed. Werewolf. Perfect indeed. Faith pulled out her camera and took a few pictures for her files. Brandon sniffed the air. “there is one close.”

“f**k that. We are leaving.” the other four boys transformed and ran into the woods.

“cowards.” Brandon turned once again to where Faith waited in the shadows. “do you want to play?”

“Absolutely.” Faith called out as she jumped from the bushes and grappled with the wolf. Her eyes changed color as she tapped into her potential. He was much bigger than her but she was overpowering him. “you are filth. I'm going to drag you back to headquarters and skin you alive.”

“you can try, human!” he bit into her arm and she yelled. He pulled his head back and roared.

“you f*****g cunt!” she hip tossed him and drew her rifle. She shook with rage. “stay down or I'll kill you.”

“no, you won't.” A deep gravelly voice called from behind her. Faith turned her head to see the biggest wolf she had ever encountered standing behind her. He was solid white and was surely an alpha. She turned her gun on him, taking her attention off of the wolf on the ground.

“well this is convenient. Looking for wolves and they find me instead.”

“put your weapon away and we will leave.”

“you know I can't let you do that.” Faith looked towards the wolf on the ground who was frozen staring at his alpha and grimaced. “i guess its you or me.” she whispered as she pulled the trigger on her rife, getting off three shots before the alpha tackled her. She felt his claws tear into both of her upper arms. She knew that the bullets had contacted, his skin hissed and she could smell the blood in the air.

“you should have just walked away, why didn’t you just walk away?” the wolf growled on top of her.

“it's not my job to walk away.” Faith struggled underneath the wolf. He wasn’t trying to kill her; he was just holding her down. She watched the bullet wounds in his shoulder bubble and the bullets slowly popped out onto her vest. What the f**k?!? Silver has no effect?!?

“i still don’t want to hurt you. Im going to leave. Please don’t make me kill you by following me.” He jumped off her and barreled through the trees not looking back. Faith laid on her back breathing heavily. Why didn’t he kill me? Faith leaned up against a tree and turned on her mic.

“this is squad one, in need of back up. Tangos engaged and fled, repeat tangos engaged then fled.” she heard an array of call backs as everyone moved towards her location. She frowned knowing what came next.

“what the f**k is wrong with you.” her father pulled back his fist rubbing the fresh cuts on his knuckles.

“my position was compromised I..” he swung contacting her ribs again. He has broken them again.

“Your orders were OBSERVE and REPORT.” he spat at her feet. “what the f**k were you doing engaging the enemy and LETTING THEM GET AWAY!”

“my position was compromised I...”

“shut your f*****g mouth.” he gave her another hit to the ribs making her cough up blood. “you are a disgrace faith. Your mother should have never had you. It’s a shame such power resides in a girl.” he cut the bounds on her hands and kicked her out of her chair. “don't screw up again. My tolerance for you is at an end.”

“yes sir.” Faith lifted herself from the ground and limped from the room. Her squad was waiting in the debriefing room. Her arms were still cut and she was dripping blood from her fingertips. The wolf bite on her arm was on fire.

“Sergeant?”

“good job squad,” faith coughed into her elbow, blood splattering on her sleeve. “send me any information you may have gathered. We will meet to discuss new patrols, they knew we were there, we cannot let that happen again.  Dismissed.” they saluted and ran off, not wanting to look their leader in the eyes. Faith gathered her gear and carefully drove to her house. She peeled off her ruined clothes and showered off the blood. She slid into bed, her clock reading 2:36. Good a few hours of sleep. Faith closed her eyes and sank into a nightmare.

Faith shouldered her gear bag and took one last look at training camp. “I'm glad we are finally out of here.”

“you said it.” Tyler was walking next to her as they approached the bus to depart on their first mission. They loaded onto the bus and took the seats in the back. “so, what do you think about Texas?”

“I don’t know I've never been there.” five more hunters loaded the bus. They settled in their seats and the bus started forward. It was late, maybe three am. Faith closed her eyes and leaned into the window.

“well I'm excited. I can't wait to travel!” Faith looked around the bus. Her and Tyler were the youngest hunters at fourteen years old. The other hunters around them were at least eighteen. They had a single combat experienced hunter with them.

“at least we have the hunters to take care of certain expenses.”

“why do you act like being a hunter is a bad thing! I'm a third-generation hunter, I couldn’t wait to join the cause!”

“I didn’t even know this life existed until a year ago.” Faith pulled at her hoodie uncomfortably. “i didn’t want this life.”

“you'll fit in soon enough, you have a gift no one of us ever dreamt of having. Being immune to bites is...” there was a crash cutting Tyler off. The bus flipped to the left and skid across the ground. Faith hardly had time to brace herself as Tyler fell on top of her. The bus stopped and was smoking.

“is anyone hurt?” a older male voice called out. The hunters grumbled as they tried to adjust to what happened. Faith shoved Tyler off of her and went towards a roof hatch. She heard a scream as she watched someone be ripped out of a window. “we are under attack! Defend yourselves!” Faith dove between the seats as a clawed hand reached for her. What is happening! Faith located her gear bag and pulled a sword from it. She looked around, not being able to see anything.

“Vampires!” a female voice yelled from the front. Faith looked at Tyler who was unconscious. She grabbed both of their gear bags and drug him from the burning bus. She saw shadows diving at the bus, trying to pick off the hunters. She managed to drag Tyler to the wood line and smacked him. His head rolled softly. He was out cold. f**k. Why did you choose right now to take a nap! A dark figure dove for Faith and sank its teeth into her shoulder, missing her neck.

“Jesus f*****g Christ!” she swung her sword burying it into the vampire's midsection. It screamed and recoiled away from her. She heard hunters all around screaming and the sounds of snapping bones. She quickly lobbed off the vampire's head and looked around. No one saw her. She looked at her unconscious teammate next to her and back at the c*****e. There is no winning this, we have to run. She quickly shouldered Tyler and their gear and ran as fast as she could away from the wreckage of the bus.